Two for One
by ScarletMoon19
Summary: FemRyoma AU. After Echizen's win against Yukimura, the entire Seigaku team decides to celebrate at Kawamura sushi. Fuji who has been in love with Ryoma for awhile decides now is the time to confess. When Echizen goes to leave because of a phone call, Fuji follows closely behind for his chance. However he instead discovers something completely shocking about their freshman prodigy.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Alrighty then **this is going to be Fem Ryoma story.** I wanted to keep it a surprise but I realized some of you guys may not like gender bent stories so I decided to give you a warning. For those that don't mind and want to continue reading hopefully my story ends up being different from the rest. I understand that there are tons of Fem Ryoma stories out there. However if at any given time this story does end up being similar to another please let me know and I shall change it immediately.

Moving on.

 **IMPORTANT FOR THE STORY.** This currently takes place in OVA episodes 22-25 Rikkaidai vs. Seigaku. It follows the episodes timeline in the beginning but there are some changes, especially towards the end where Echizen gains back his memories. The changes are on purpose and have a point so certain events further in the story make sense. That's why I decided to write out the episodes. I also am kinda just skimming through it and just putting the important points or things I've changed so don't expect much because it's really just a set up. After that the story goes on to its own timeline and no longer follows the anime. That's where all the details start.

Now to the story.

 _ **Note: Tezuka had just lost his match.**_

* * *

Momo and Echizen come running down the steps of the stadium towards their team.

"Oishi-sempai." Momo says softly, slightly concerned.

"It's just as you see, He lost…But I'm glad you came back quickly." Oishi said relieved to see his absent teammates.

"We're back, but..." Momo trailed off turning to look over at Echizen.

"Um, there are many people here." Echizen said placing his bag down and held the tip of his cap. "Is something going on?"

"Well it seems that he lost his memories." Momo explained with a guilty and frustrated look.

Everyone looked shocked at the two. Echizen just ignores them and plays with the strings of his racket with a large smile on his face, giggling.

Oishi steps forward a bit. "Echizen, do you really not remember anything?"

Echizen looks at Oishi confused "What are you talking about?"

Eiji quickly runs up to Echizen and places his hands on the boy's shoulders. "We were the champions at the Kantou District Tournament, remember? Even in the nationals, we kept crushing the competition."

"Pardon me, but I have no idea what you're talking about." Echizen responded still confused.

"What are you saying?" Taka-san added in. "You contributed greatly in that endeavor too, didn't you?"

"Even if you say that, I was brought here so abruptly so I don't know what's what." Echizen says.

Kaido suddenly comes forward and grabs Echizen's jacket collar, his other hand clenched in a fist. "Hey, you better not be bullshitting us, Echizen!"

"I-I'm sorry." Echizen stutters slightly frightened.

"Stop it Kaido." Oishi cuts in. "No violence."

Kaido clicks his tongue. "He's not worth punching anyway."

Everyone just looks confused at Echizen, who at this time is sitting down smiling and playing with a tennis ball.

"It can't be helped." Oishi says. "For now, let's just concentrate on the next match."

"That's right." Eiji agrees. "By watching a match he may just recall things."

Everyone just nods their head in agreement.

During the doubles match between Inui and Kaido against Yanagi and Akaya, Echizen would make small comments that would show no sign of his memories returning. Even during the beginning of Fuji's match against Nio, Echizen still didn't regain his memories. After Oishi saw Fuji use his new Sixth counter, he was no longer very concerned. He knew that Fuji would not lose this match, so he focused his attention over to Momo.

"Momo, how did Echizen lose his memories?" he asked

Momo just looked confused. "Actually I don't know, when I picked him up he was already like this."

Oishi sighed. "Oh well, when Echizen gets back to normal we shall ask him what happened then."

Momo just nods his head and looks over at Echizen with a worried expression.

Fuji ended up winning his match and the crowd cheered. Oishi and Eiji then went down to the courts for their match against Jackel and Mauri. As the game went on Momo was inspired and became determined to do whatever he had to do to get Echizens memories back. So he ran over to Echizen.

"Come with me Echizen!" he said grabbing the boy's wrist and dragging him over towards Tezuka and Fuji.

"Captain, I'll warm up with Echizen." Momo said

Echizen just looked at Momo confused. "Um, but I…"

"I'll make you remember your lost memories!" Momo told Echizen, very determined.

"Momo." Fuji muttered softly

"Fine." Replied Tezuka.

Momo nodded his head and once again grabbed Echizen's wrist taking off toward the outdoor tennis courts. Once they got there Momo stood on one side of the net and Echizen was on the other, both had rackets in their hands.

"Um, what are we doing here?" Echizen asked.

Momo just ignored him and pulled out a tennis ball, serving instantly. He starts doing all of his signature moves towards Echizen who in turn is not even bothering to try and return them.

"How can you forget!?" Momo yells frustrated. "We've been fighting together all this time haven't we? Remember Echizen!?" he now had tears streaming down his face. "Please! Call me Momo-sempai once again!"

Echizen just stands there watching Momo with a sad expression. "I'm sorry." He says walking up to Momo. "Let's try playing a match again."

Momo grinned. Soon enough the two were having a rally. However, Echizen had so far only been using the basics.

"Amazing, that's amazing Ryoma-kun." Katsuo cheered from the sidelines. "You're returning shots so easily."

Echizen suddenly froze hearing his name. Momo who hadn't noticed got in position to do a dunk smash. Echizen's eyes widened as the ball went past him.

"That was… One more time please." He said with fire in his eyes.

Momo suddenly got very excited, seems like Echizen's memories were finally starting to return. Suddenly several of Echizens pervious opponents walked up onto the courts. Momo smiled, looks like he has got some help.

"Ryoma-kun!" Katsou shouted again excitedly.

Echizen froze again hearing his name. After a couple of moments he smirked.

"Mada mada dane." He muttered.

Everyone nearby turned toward echizen when they heard the familiar phrase. There standing in front of them was the usual cocky, cool brat they were used to. Some of them were muttering about how they haven't even done anything yet. Momo's eyes filled with tears.

"Echizen, you're back." He said

Echizen looked at Momo weirdly. "I've never left semapi."

Momo laughed. "Right, right. Come on lets go back." He grabbed Ryoma's wrist again and dragged him back to the match.

"Captain." Momo yelled once they got in view of Tezuka. "Echizen is back!"

Tezuka gave a small smile. Oishi and Eiji smiled too, they had heard Momo down from the court. They looked at one another and nodded. It was time to get serious.

Their game finished in no time, with Seigaku's win. The team cheered, now it was Echizens turn. Everyone was counting on him to beat his opponent, Yukimura Seiichi, the Child of God.

Dispite everything thrown at him, Echizen tired his hardest. He struggled against the yips but he eventually overcame them by entering the final door, Tenimuhou no kiwami. It was an amazing sight. Echizen won his match against Yukimura, preventing Rikkaidai from gaining their third consecutive win. The crowd had cheered and Seigaku was the happiest of them all. Eventually everyone had decided they would go to Kawamura sushi restaurant to celebrate.

So that's where they are now, everyone stuffing their faces with sushi and enjoying themselves. Fuji, who was sitting down at a table with Eiji and Oishi, was constantly keeping an eye on their freshman. Before their match against Rikkaidai Fuji had promised himself that he would soon confess to Echizen. He had constantly been battling his feeling, telling himself he was not gay, but no matter what he did he knew the truth. He was head over heels in love with Ryoma. So now that they had finally beaten Rikkaidai, Fuji felt like it was time to tell him how he feels. So he watched Ryoma, patiently waiting for an opportunity to approach him. Suddenly Echizen's phone had started to go off.

"Sorry Sempai, I'll be right back." Ryoma said while getting up from his seat.

"Hurry back Echizen!" Momo shouts

Ryoma just nods and walks toward the exit. Fuji watches and believing this to be a good time decides to get up and follow him.

"Ah Fujiko where are you going?" Eiji asks.

"Sa, where am I going?" Fuji said smiling.

"Fuji!" Eiji whines.

"Eiji, calm down. He could just be going to the restroom." Oishi says trying to calm Eiji.

"It's alright Oishi." Fuji says. "Eiji I'm going to finally tell him."

Eiji immediately settles down and gives a large smile to Fuji. "Good-luck!"

Fuji nods and continues to follow Ryoma outside. As soon as he steps out he sees Ryoma about to answer his phone. So he did what anyone would do, he hides behind the closest tree he could. He knew it was rude to listen in on his conversation but he didn't want to lose this opportunity to finally confront Echizen about his feelings. If he had decided to wait after the phone call, Echizen might have already gone back inside or worse had already left. Plus Fuji was naturally a nosy person.

"Hello?" Ryoma answers in a bored tone.

Fuji strains his ears so he could hear whoever is on the other end.

"I'm back." The voice said in an excited tone.

Fuji was slightly confused, he didn't recognize that voice and it sounded male. He carefully watched Ryoma's reaction and was shocked. Ryoma's demeanor had instantly changed. His normally bored facial expression was filled with life. His eyes shone with excitement, and his smile was heartwarming. Ryoma almost seemed exactly the same as when he had lost his memories earlier that day. Does that mean something triggered him to lose him memories again? No that couldn't be, maybe Ryoma was just generally happy to hear the other person. Fuji's heart clenched at the thought. He wondered who this person could be to Ryoma if they brought out this kind of reaction from him. Fuji's face fell thinking maybe he was too late, and Ryoma already had a boyfriend. He shook his head. No he couldn't be thinking negatively, there was no proof yet. So Fuji stopped his thinking and brought his attention back onto Ryoma. That's when he noticed something odd. Ryoma was standing in a very feminine pose. All his weight was placed on one leg, his free hand on his hip, and head tilted to the opposite side.

"Aniki." Ryoma said in a higher than normal pitched voice. "Took you long enough."

Fuji internally sighed. Good not a boyfriend then just his brother.

"Hehe sorry chibisuke college took longer than expected." His brother replied

"That's what you get for trying to become a doctor." Ryoma chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. But it's worth it though." His brother said sadly.

Ryoma who noticed his brother's sudden change of mood tried to switch the conversation. "Anyway Aniki, are you home yet?"

"Not yet I'm still at the airport, waiting for my car to be dropped off."

"Aww." Ryoma said pouting. "Well hurry Aniki I miss you."

Fuji was shocked once again. Their cocky freshman, who is completely antisocial and showed little emotion, just said he missed someone. Not only that but he seemed to be displaying lots of emotions right now, especially one of happiness. It was a weird thing to see this side of Ryoma. If anything Fuji was just more intrigued, he wanted to become a person who could bring out this side of Ryoma too. Fuji was actually kind of jealous of Ryoma's brother. However there was something that was bothering him slightly. Ryoma's personality right now was like a completely different person. It was worrying. Did he not know about Ryoma as well as he originally thought? Fuji shook his head again. It doesn't matter right now, he could confront Ryoma about it later. So he brought his attention back to their conversation.

"Where are you right now?" Ryoma's brother asked.

Suddenly Fuji noticed that Ryoma looked incredibly confused.

"Uh actually I don't know, let me check." Ryoma replied. He started to look around for a bit until he saw the restaurant sign. "Aha, Kawamura Sushi." Ryoma said happily but then frowned "Have you ever been here before Aniki?"

This caught Fuji's attention. Why wouldn't Ryoma know where they are, let alone act like he has never been here before. The team constantly comes here several times after a win. Did he really lose his memories again? But that wouldn't make sense.

"No, can't say I have." Ryoma's brother replies, catching Fuji's attention again. "Chibisuke I'm about to head over to my apartment, want me to pick you up?"

"Nah that's okay." Ryoma said. "I got here somehow guess I will try and get myself back home."

"You sure, Isn't Oyaji home?"

Ryoma's eyes widened with fear and nervousness. "Honestly I haven't seen him for a while, think I'll be fine."

Fuji was now beyond confused. First Ryoma didn't seem to know how he got here, which is absurd. They all came here together as a team, it was even Echizen's idea to come over here in the first place. Also he was worried about the reaction Ryoma had to the mention of his father's name. Ryoma seemed afraid. Was there something happening with his home? Fuji desperately wanted to leave his hiding place and demand answers from Echizen. But he can't do that, at least not until the conversation ends. For now, he will settle with listening in.

"Okay then, if you think you'll be fine."

Ryoma smiled again. "Mail me your new address, so I could visit when I want to."

"No way. What if I want privacy time, I don't want you disturbing me." His brother said in a teasing tone.

"Ewww Aniki gross." Ryoma said in a girlish tone.

His brother laughed on the other end. "Just kidding."

Ryoma then laughed sweetly. "So you will then?"

"Of course anyway I got to go now car's here."

"Just don't forget!" Ryoma says quickly

"Hai, Hai. Bye Ryoko."

Fuji looks confused once again. What who's Ryoko? Did he hear that right?

"Bye Aniki!" Echizen responds cheerfully.

Wait Ryoma? Fuji opens his eyes in shock.

Apparently this was too overwhelming for Fuji because as soon as Echizen hung up, Fuji had stumbled out of his hiding place. Quickly he recovered and gave Echizen a half-hearted smile. Echizen in turn just looked Fuji up and down with a raised eyebrow. He watched Fuji for a few moments before deciding to turn around and walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Fuji asked grabbing a hold of Echizen's wrist in the process.

Echizen just looks at Fuji confused once again. Finally for what seemed like forever he opened his mouth to speak. But the words that came out were not what Fuji was expecting. His eyes widened in shock as he recalled what the boy had said.

" _Sorry do I know you?"_

WHAT!?

* * *

 **A/N:** So I started writing this story idea and had to upload it so I don't forget. That and so I can make sure it's saved on here in case my computer decides to hate me. I would hate to have it get suddenly deleted or lost. So anyway that means I most likely will rarely update this. Mainly because I have two ongoing stories, aka the vampire prince and something beautiful, and would very much like to finish those first. However once I finish one of them I'll start getting to work on this one. Who knows maybe I'll update if I ever get bored too. (P.S that tends to happen a lot)

There is also another thing different about Ryoma besides being biologically a girl, let see if anyone has figured it out already.

Now Disclaimer I do not own prince of tennis all rights go to their respected owners. Another heads up Ryoma will be OOC at times. The reason being is because of the way I set up his (sorry now her) character there will be times when Ryoma is completely different from the anime. Also backstory will be different as well, just another warning. Promise authors notes won't ever be this long, the only reason it is now is because I had a lot to explain.

 **Anyway if anyone has any question, comments, or things you wish to be in the story I'd be very happy to see them so don't be shy! Thankyou :)**


	2. Exposed

"Sorry do I know you?" Echizen asked while trying to free his wrist from the other boy's grasp.

"What are you talking about?" Fuji said, voice shaking slightly. There was several moments of silence with Echizen looking at him sadly before Fuji started to chuckle. "Sa, this is all a game isn't it."

Echizen looked at Fuji in the eyes and said, "Not a game and I'd very much appreciate if you would release my wrist Sir."

Fuji's eyes widened. This cannot be happening, Ryoma lost his memories again. That's an absurd thought though, nothing happened to cause such a thing. Maybe he hadn't fully recovered earlier and his injury resurfaced. But that wouldn't explain the sudden change, also his brother acted as if nothing was wrong with Ryoma. Fuji felt as if his head was going to explode with all this. After clearing his thoughts a bit, he decided its best to get some answers from Ryoma himself. Although first he has to keep him from running away because right now Fuji has sorta been acting like a creepy pedophile.

"Oh I'm sorry." He apologized letting go, but noticing he was about to take off Fuji added "Promise you wont leave though?"

Echizen just stared at Fuji oddly, probably trying to assess whether he was a threat or not. Finally the smaller boy sighed "I promise."

Fuji smiled softly. "Thank you."

The two just stared at each other in awkward silence before Echizen decided to speak up. "Ano, I do have to be home soon. Was there something you needed from me?"

"Did you really loose your memories again?" Fuji asked frowning.

"My memories?" Echizen said tilting his head to the side confused, but suddenly his eyes lit up and he slammed his fist into his other palm. "Wait, I do know you."

Fuji smiled thinking 'good, nothing severe then'

"You were with those boys earlier today right. At that tennis stadium." Ryoma exclaimed proudly. "So you should know how I got here right?"

Fuji pouted. Okay not what he was expecting. Though the way Ryoma said that seemed a bit weird. He took another full glance at Echizen and was a little alarmed. Ryoma's posture, his aura, the whole vibe the smaller boy was giving off seemed like a completely different person. Had the person in front of him not looked like their freshman prodigy then Fuji was sure he would be talking to someone else. Everything about him seemed full of life. He looked more excited about things, and gave off a feeling of sweetness. All in all the person in front of him was very feminine.

What's going on?!

"Ryoma?" Fuji whispered under his breath, his voice nervous and afraid.

Ecizen hearing his name froze and his eyes became blank. "What?" he muttered.

Fuji watched him with calculating eyes. Why did the boy suddenly freeze up like that? Where did the light in his eyes go? He was about to call out Echizens name again but a load noise from a sports car speeding down the street coming towards them caught his attention. Echizen blinked a couple of times then turned his eyes towards the car as well. The driver parked right in front of the two and stepped out of the car. The man looked like an older version of Echizen, and he was tossing an orange in his hand. The man looked around a bit until his eyes landed on Ryoma and smiled. Fuji's eyes narrowed and got in a protective stance.

"Chibisuke, glad to see you're still here." The man said while waling towards them.

Fuji blinked realizing this must be Ryoma's brother. Echizen's reaction though was immediate, he sprinted toward the man and jumped him. The man, who was prepared for this picked Ryoma up and spun him around in a circle. Both were laughing and smiling the whole time. Fuji, who was watching the encounter from the sidelines, was irritated. He was also frustrated and very much confused again. What the HELL is going on?!

After for what seemed like forever the two siblings stopped hugging and laughing. "Aniki, what are you doing here?" Ryoma asked once he was back on the ground.

"Well I really didn't like the fact you could get lost so I came to pick you up anyway."

Ryoma pouted. "Ryoga." he whined. "I said I was fine."

"I know but I worry." Ryoga said sheepishly noticing the other was upset with him. "Forgive me Ryoko."

At the name 'Ryoko' Fuji decided to make his presence known. "Sorry to interrupt." he said clearly irritated "but can someone please explain what is going on here."

Ryoga blinked and looked back and forth from Fuji and Ryoma. Suddenly realizing something he formed an 'o' shape with his mouth. He then turned over to his sibling and smiled. "Ryoko go wait in the car for a bit, I will be there soon okay?"

"Okay~"

Ryoga kept smiling as he watched his chibisuke disappear from sight into the car. Then his smile fell and he looked more serious, he turned he attention now onto Fuji. "I'm assuming you are _Ryoma's_ teammate from the tennis team."

Fuji raised an eyebrow at the tone Ryoga used when he said the name 'Ryoma'. He spit out the name with clear hate and disgust. Although he ignored it for now and nodded. "Right, I'm Fuji Shusuke. You are Ryoma's brother correct?"

Ryoga shook his head. "No, I am Ryoko's brother."

"You keep calling Ryoma that, who's Ryoko?" Fuji asked becoming frustrated again at still not getting any answers.

Ryoga sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Man I really don't want to explain."

Fuji glared. His eyes promising suffering to those that defy him.

"Alright!" Ryoga exclaimed, noticing the other boys impatience and clearly aware of the pain he would go through had he not given Fuji answers. "Ryoko is Ryoma."

Fuji growled clearly wanting more of an explanation. "What?"

"Or more like they are both the same person."

"I don't understand."

"It's hard to explain but one thing is for sure. The Ryoma you know was certainly born as a girl named Ryoko."

Fuji just looked at Ryoga wide eyed. Okay that was difficult to believe but defiantly explained the sudden girlish actions of the young prodigy. But what about the memories. That would not explain why he, wait no she didn't recognize any of us. Unless...

Fuji looked up at Ryoga concerned. In response Ryoga just smiled sadly.

"Ryom- I mean Ryoko..." Fuji hesitated clearly not wanting to voice out his thoughts but he needed to confirm them anyway. "Ryoko has Dissociative Identity Disorder doesn't she?"

"Hmmm you sure are smart." Ryoga said still smiling sadly. "Yes she does. Two personalities to be exact. The original Ryoko my supper bubbly and sweet sister, and the alter _Ryoma_ a cocky, antisocial, tennis loving boy."

"Only two personalities?"

Ryoga nodded.

"If Ryoko is the main personality, then why after all this time do we only know of the alter Ryoma?" Fuji asked, this was all hard to take in but might as well get all the information first then think about it all later.

Ryoga sighed. "Ever since the age of six Ryoma has been taking over most of the time. Ryoko would only appear early in the morning and late at night, or whenever I was around."

"You must be a trigger for Ryoko then."

Ryoga shook his head. "Yes and no, Ryoko can come out whenever she feels like it. Although it may seem like otherwise, but Ryoko does have the most control."

Fuji looked confused again. Sure he knew a little bit about DID but not enough. Never in his life did he believe that one day he would develop a crush on someone's alter. Defiantly once he gets home he will do a lot of thinking and research.

"Let me explain some more. Ryoko is very much aware of Ryoma's existence. So she can either take control or back off as she wishes. However anything Ryoma does while he is in control, Ryoko will have no memories of. Ryoma on the other hand has very limited memories, he only knows of what he himself does, and has no knowledge of Ryoko's existence."

Hearing this Fuji remembered something and his eyes hardened at Ryoga. "Meaning the cause of this development is a childhood trauma."

Ryoga flinched.

"I'm assuming abuse." Fuji eyed Ryoga carefully. "by her father perhaps?"

"Aniki!" Ryoko yelled from the car getting the two boy's attention. "Are you done yet?"

"Ah, not yet a few more minutes okay." Ryoga responded happy that he wouldn't have to reply to Fuji.

Ryoko pouted and ran over to the two. "But the car is so boring."

"Echizen-san, how do I call out Ryoma?" Fuji asked while eyeing Ryoko.

Ryoko hearing the name froze again and looked towards Fuji confused.

Fuji saw this and smiled in realization. Ryoga just watched on extremely nervous and had to hold himself back from interfering.

"Ryoma~" Fuji called out sweetly.

Ryoko blinked for a second and her face suddenly lost all emotion. She slouched and placed both hands into her pockets.

"Fuji-senpai? what are you doing here?" the now Ryoma said and he turned his attention to the other person there too. "Aniki?"

Fuji's eyes softened, this was the person he knew. Ryoga just watched in concern, this is not how he wanted things to go. He only hopes that Fuji will not make things worse than they already are.

"Sorry Ryoma your brother just decided to pop up as a surprise to congratulate you on your win today." Fuji said.

Ryoma looked at Ryoga with a raised eyebrow.

Ryoga smiled and nodded. "Yup, congrats on your win chibisuke."

Ryoma just huffed and tured back to go inside the restaurant. Fuji just watched and stayed behind with Ryoga.

"He never did like me much." Ryoga said while chuckling lightly at the Ryoma's reaction.

"Echizen-san?" Fuji said nervously

"Just Ryoga is fine."

"Ryoga, how would I be able to call out Ryoko?"

Ryoga's eyes widened at that but then he turned serious. "My sister is not someone you could just play with." he spat.

"I don't wish to play with her like what you are thinking." Fuji said defensively. "Noone besides you know about her have two identies correct?"

"Yes."

"I just want to be there for support, to let her know that someone besides you can be of assistance should she need it."

"And why would you do that." Ryoga asked still suspisious.

"Somehow I had developed feelings for Ryoma, I just wish to understand the one I have fallen for better."

Ryoga watched Fuji closely then sighed. "Alright fine, but if you hurt my sister I will come after you. You only wish to protect her right?"

Fuji smiled softly. "I will do my best to protect them both."

Ryoga smiled at Fuji's answer. "Names will usually do the trick." he then started to walk back towards his car. "Although Roko will not come out if she doesn't want to."

Fuji nodded at Ryoga and watched as his car left the scene, then he went back inside the sushi restaurant.

"Fuji?" Ryoma called out when he passed by him. "Where is Ryoga?"

"Sa, I don't know."

Ryoma clicked his tongue. "Baka aniki."

Fuji chuckled and made his way over to sit with Oishi and Eiji.

"How'd it go?"

"Sa..."

"Fujiko!"

"i didn't tell him."

Eiji looked shocked but then frowned he was going to say something but Fuji cut him off.

"After all there is something I must do first."

Eiji and Oishi just looked at one another confused. Fuji smiled at the two trying to figure out what he meant and turned his head to stare over at Ryoma.

What one would do for love.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay so I barely know anything about psychology all I know is based off the little research I did. So if I got anything wrong abut Dissociative Identity Disorder, I apologize. If you do notice any mistakes let me know and I will try and fix them. Also how I will start addressing Ryoma's character may become a bit confusing so I shall try to explain a bit. Whichever personality is appearing that's how I will address them. So like if in one scene Fuji is talking to Ryoma I will write it from Ryoma's perspective so pronouns like he will be present despite the fact that Ryoma Is biologically a girl. Mainly because Ryoma is a male alter. if Ryoko is present then female promouns will be used, because Ryoko is a girl. Hope that helps, or just made things worse. Who knows. Now about updates, because I am technically not suppose to be woking on this story yet the updates will be random.

(side note: Dissociative Identity Disorder is also known as Multiple Personality Disorder. They are basically the same thing.)

Anyways thanks to those (despite my grammar errors and lack of stability on the story) that decided to follow and review. All of you made me happy to know this story wasn't terrible and that some people actually like it.

tata for now :)


	3. Happenstance

**A/N:** hey guys its been awhile since I updated this story, sorry about that. Although I did warn you in advance about the random updates. anyhoo i have gotten some inspiration to write up some more for this story thus todays update. hope you all like it :)

first though I would like to respond to a guest review that asked about how Ryoma does not know he's actually a girl. My answer is this.

Ryoma whole heartedly believes that he is a boy. Plus with his bored and uncaring personality he never really notices that his body is that of a female. Ryoko also takes over during the day, night, and any other time she needs to shower or change. Its mainly about modesty. Ryoko does not want a boy to see her body, even if its Ryoma. So really Ryoma is never given the chance to discover for himself that he is not actually a boy. There is also the fact that Ryoma is an alter developed by Ryokos mind. If the alter is a male, no matter what proof that says otherwise the alter will always believe them to be male. Of course I don't know enough about Dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personality disorder) to be completely accurate, but this is an A.U so please bear with me.

I will try and explain Ryoma/Ryoko's situation more further into the story but I thought that I should answer that question now. Hope that helps a bit. tho if anyone has any other questions feel free to ask and I shall answer them to the best of my ability.

Anyway Moving on :)

* * *

Fuji went straight home after the celebrations, he had a lot of things on his mind he needed to think about. He didn't even acknowledge his sister or parents, just rushed into his bedroom and flopped onto his bed. Honestly Fuji's mind was still trying to come to terms about Ryoma. Wait no, he can't call him that anymore. He can't even say he's a he. Ryoma is a girl. A girl named Ryoko. Oh how he wished this was all just a dream. That he would wake up and it be the day of the competition. Sure it would mean that his team had not won the championship but at least he would still have Ryoma. His Ryoma, the boy he fell in love with. Yet sadly he knew this was all real. He knew that there was nothing that could make things go back to the way it was. But that wouldn't stop him from trying to make things right.

Fuji knew he wanted to help Echizen. He figured out pretty easily that Echizen's mental state felt the need to develop an alter for protection. Now protection from what exactly? The father was clearly involved that much was true based on the conversation with Ryoga earlier, but that was not enough proof. There is also too little information go on. Fuji can't help if he doesn't have all the details and methods to cure Echizens mental disorder.

So first things first he needs to find a way to gather information. The best solution to this is to get it from the source. Fuji needed to gain Ryom- sorry Ryoko's trust. Although if Ryoko managed to stay hidden from everyone for so long it would certainly be difficult to get a chance to even talk to her. If Fuji can not even get her to appear then forget about ever gaining trust to learn anything. Ryoga did say names usually help, maybe just calling her name would get her to appear. Maybe if Fuji found a way to get Ryoma alone and corner him, he could try and call Ryoko out. It will be hard to trap Ryoma. The boy always did know when Fuji was scheming and always managed to stay away. That's something manageable though, Ryoma can not avoid him forever.

Wait.

Ryoga also said Ryoko decides whether or not she wants to come out. Meaning even if Fuji calls her name there is a change she will not even appear. If that were to happen Ryoma will defiantly get weirded out by Fuji calling him a girls name while cornering him. Fuji, if possible, would like to avoid his object of affection thinking him insane at all costs.

Fuji buried his face further into his pillow. This is all beyond frustrating. He is a genius for goodness sakes, he should be able to come up with a decent plan to talk to Ryoko. If not then forget about helping Ecizen like he wants, he can't even talk to a girl, let alone help someone with a mental problem. Oh well. Fuji was tired right now anyway, so he will sleep now and hopefully figure something out in the morning.

~241~

When Ryoma got home he was exhausted. His teammates take a lot of energy to handle, especially Eiji-sempai and Momo-sempai. He tired to drag himself through the house in order to get to his room to rest, but ended up bumping into his father on the way.

"Brat how was the championships?" His father, Nanjiro asked.

"We won." Ryoma responded with a grin on his face.

Nanjiro smiled and pat Ryoma on the back "that's my boy!"

Ryoma nodded and moved past his father, who was super happy mumbling things to himself, to go up to his room. On the way up, now out of his fathers sight, his steps started to have more of a bounce to them and his once bored eyes shone with mischief and happiness. it was obvious that the bored, cocky, tennis loving boy was no longer here and instead an energetic girl took his place. Ryoko was once again in control.

As soon as Ryoko reached the door to her bedroom she smiled sadly, and pushed the door open. Her room was just too boyish for her liking. there were several tennis related stuff sprawled out everywhere, and the room color was just too plain. Its not like she completely hated tennis or depressing colors it was just not her cup of tea. She preferred more elegant and bright things, like music. Speaking of which. Ryoko's eyes lit up and she bolted to the back of her closet. It may be risky with her father currently awake downstairs but she wanted so desperately to play. So she moved all the tennis things away and uncovered a black violin case.

Ryoko took the Violin out of its case and sat down at the edge of her bed. Slowly she grazed her fingers along the strings of her beloved violin. Oh how she missed this so much. She lost herself in the familiar feel of something she loved and was about to start a song when a crash from downstairs stopped her in her tracks. Quickly she snapped her head towards the door of her room with wide eyes filled with fear and dread. Then she stashed the violin back into its hiding place as fast and quietly as she can and buried herself in the bed under the blankets pretending to be asleep. It really was too risky to play here at the house after all. Maybe she could go to the park in the morning to play like how she used to in the past.

With that thought in mind Ryoko slowly fell asleep, but her body and mind were still on guard in case anything happened during the night.

~241~

In the morning Fuji woke up in a bad mood. He could not come up with anything to solve the problem last night, the one about finding a way to try and talk to Ryoko. So to calm down he decided to get a breath of fresh air by going out for a walk in the park. When he got there the first thing he saw was a large crowd gathered in one spot. Curious he got closer and heard a soft sound getting louder the closer he got.

Was someone performing.

It wasn't uncommon for inspiring musicians to play in the park. It was a good way to practice in front of a crowd or to experiment on what got others attention and what didn't. It also was a great way to try to get acknowledged and known. Fuji loved to listen to people playing music in the park, so much so that he knew all the regulars. Although this sound was not someone he knew, it was defiantly someone new. And it was absolutely beautiful. So Fuji got closer weaving his way through the crowd to get to the front. He wanted to hear the music better and see the person who could make such a wonderful tune. When he reached the very front he froze. The world ceased to exist around him and all he saw was the person playing the music.

There in the center was a young girl playing the violin with shoulder length raven-black hair wearing a light-blue sun dress and a white lace jacket tied around her waist. Fuji thought she looked absolutely stunning, and wanted to berate himself for thinking about someone other than his Ryoma in this way. The girl moved her body slightly but enough for Fuji to get a look at her face. She had her eyes closed and a small sad smile, and sometimes he noticed her face would scrunch up in pain. Which was understandable. From the way the song flowed and sounded it was obvious the song was about pain and sadness. Fuji could feel the girls feelings through the music, it was a testament to how skilled she truly was. No wonder the crowd was mesmerized and hasn't made a single sound in fear of disturbing the song.

The music started to change slightly and Fuji realized that the song was about to be at its end. As the last notes played the girl slowly lowered her bow and opened her teary eyes gently. Fuji stared at her wide eyed. Her eyes. Her beautiful golden eyes reminded him so much of the one he loved. The girl blinked several times before smiling shyly and giving her audience a curtsy thanking them all. Then she moved and knelt down by an empty black case next to her, beginning to put her violin away. It seemed as if the girl was so lost in her playing she never noticed that a crowd began to form around her, and started to get a little nervous. The crowd clapped and complemented her but eventually started to disperse once they realized she was not going to play anymore. Fuji took this chance to approach the girl. Why he felt compelled to speak with this girl he doesn't know, it just felt like something he should do. So once he was within a distance where she could hear him he spoke.

"You were amazing! How long have you been playing the Violin for?" he asked

The girl quickly jumped up surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Sorry did I startle you?" he said worried, he honestly didn't mean to scare her.

"No its fine." she replied and looked directly into Fuji's eyes. "Thank-you, and I started learning to play a couple years back."

Fuji smiled, but her voice seemed a little familiar to him. oh well. "That's impressive. I'm Fuji Shusuke by the way, nice to meet you..."

The girl smiled brightly and did a small curtsy. "Ryoko, and likewise Fuji-san."

Fuji stared. "Ryoko... as in Echizen Ryoko?"

Ryoko furrowed her brows and looked at Fuji weirdly for a moment. "Wait... I've met you before?"

Fuji nodded. How should he explain this. "At the restaurant last night."

Ryoko formed an 'o' shape with her mouth as things began to click in her mind. "Right with aniki." she smiled at him again. "Any friend of aniki's is a friend of mine."

Maybe talking to her and gaining her trust was not as hard as Fuji first thought. She seemed to be ready to open up to him as soon as he found out he knew her brother. Things were finally going to go Fuji's way, even if this was purely coincidental.

Ryoko was staring at Fuji expectantly and did a small cough to gain his attention. Whoops he hadn't realized he was just staring at her weirdly for awhile now.

"Riht uh.. are you busy right now?" he asked once he got himself composed.

She looked towards the sky for a moment in thought. "I guess I have some time to spare."

"Wonderful, care to join me for a walk?" he asked smiling fondly.

Once gain she gave him one of ,what he's sure is, her signature bright smile and responded. "Sure, I would love to."


	4. Attainments

**A/N:** Hey again :)

There will be a lot of dialogue in the beginning and it might get confusing with how I set it up. So if you do end up having questions feel free to ask me and ill answer them to the best of my abilities.

* * *

The two walked around the park in silence for awhile until Ryoko decided to speak up.

"How long have you known Ryoga for?"

Fuji shook his head with a soft hum of denial. "Not long actually, I'm rather friends with someone he knows."

Ryoko looked up at him in shock "You're a college student!?"

He chuckled "No. I'm only in middle school."

"What school?" she asked looking a little confused.

"Seigaku"

"Ah..." Ryoko's eyes lost its happiness and looked sad. She then gave Fuji an obviously forced smile. "You know Ryoma."

"I do." Fuji watched her closely "Ryoga already explained some to me about Ryoma and you."

"he did, did he." she said her lips twitching slightly "He can be too caring for his own good." she added, her voice filled with fondness and care.

Fuji nodded, he did get that impression of the older boy when they spoke.

"You know...he is studying psychology" Ryoko started but hesitated for a bit before continuing. "Not because he wants to but for my sake."

Fuji remained silent. he didn't really know how to respond to that. After all once he found out about her situation he also wanted to learn more about psychology for Ryoma's sake as well.

"Anyway."Ryoko said while shaking her head of her thoughts. "Ryoma may know who you are but I don't. So tell me, who is Fuji Shusuke?" she asked him with a grin.

Fuji smiled. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

So for the rest of their walk the two talked about many things about themselves.

Their hobbies.

"I like to play tennis"

"Figures, anything else?"

"No just tennis, I do collect cactuses though."

"That's interesting. I like tennis too but not as much as swimming and dancing."

"So you do play tennis?"

"Yes, but I am not seriously involved in the sport."

likes.

"I absolutely love the violin and of course my cat."

"do you play anything else besides the violin?"

"No...Wait, yes the piano."

"I like to play the piano too."

"really!"

"Yup. You know what I love though, Wasabi."

"That's kind of strange."

"Sa, is it really."

Dislikes.

"I really do not like when people touch my cactuses."

"possessive much."

"yes very."

"I don't like people touching my special things either so its understandable."

"hmm what do you hate the most?"

"when people don't see me for me."

and much more. Before they knew it the sun was already starting to set and it was time for Ryoko to leave. Fuji offered to walk her home but Ryoko adamantly rejected his offer and quickly left before Fuji could argue otherwise.

~241~

Ryoko had rushed home, She needed to make it back before her father did. Once she got to her front door, she held her breath and slowly opened it. Although she did not immediately walk right in, instead she only peaked her head through. Quickly glancing around she noticed there was no sign of her father. Letting out the breath she was holding she walking in and made her way upstairs, the tension in her shoulders released. After she got upstairs she stood still in front of her bedroom door for a minute.

Ryoko once again had a sad smile on her face as she went inside her bedroom. She hated how her room was nothing but tennis related stuff. All the tennis posters of professionals on the wall. The tennis magazines on the floor. Not only that but also her room seemed so dull and gloomy. Sure she liked tennis but would it hurt to have something Ryoko liked in the room as well.

Yes, yes it would hurt.

Ryoko sighed and grabbed the top of her head taking off the wig she had worn today to go to the park. It was mainly as a percussion. Her brothers idea really to wear whenever she left the house as herself, so she can have a way to be completely Ryoko for awhile. She walked over to her closet and pushed all of the Ryoma related clothes to one side, revealing a large brown box in the far corner right next to her violin case. On top of the brown box there was a plastic bag, which Ryoko grabbed and placed her wig inside. Then she changed out of her dress and wore the boy pajamas. After that she placed the wig and dress into the box and moved back the clothes, leaving no sign of the violin case and the box from the opening of the closet.

It hurts to know that all of Ryoko's belonging reside in the one box and Ryoma's stuff is everywhere else in this room. She dreams of being able to go out shopping and get clothes she wants to wear. To wear dresses and makeup like a normal girl would. Even be able to openly play the violin whenever she wanted. Wait No, she was not jealous of Ryoma. Ryoma was another part of who she is. So technically everything here is her things. Nothing to be jealous of. Nothing to despise Ryoma of. Nothing to complain about. She is happy with how things are. All she ever needs is her brother to feel alive. And Ryoma. She needs Ryoma too.

But... why can't this side of her just express herself a little bit more.

"Seishonen?"

That's why.

Ryoko froze, she had not heard her father get home at all. Was she too lost in her thought to notice, that was a mistake.

Nanjiro was standing in the door way to his sons room staring at his sons back with narrowed eyes. He had got back home earlier than he expected and was planning on surprising his son with a gift. Although right now his son seemed different somehow. "Ryoma?"

His son, after hearing his name, turned his head and stared at Nanjiro with an annoyed look. Ah, that's the son he remembers. Nothing wrong after all.

"I got you something for winning the championships, come to the courts outside." Nanjrio said with a smile.

Ryoma's eyes lit up with anticipation and Nanjiro laughed. Yes this is his son, he must have been imagining things earlier.

~241~

Fuji got back to his home all giddy and happy feeling, even ignored his family as he walked all the way to his room because he was too in bliss to notice them. He was glad he made the decision to go outside the house today. If he hadn't then he never would have gotten the chance to talk to Ryoma's other side. Although why was Ryoma wearing a dress and what he could only assume was a wig. oh well doesn't matter, he can always ask another time. Meeting Ryoko went a lot better than anything he could have planned, and now Fuji can finally think about the next step in his plan to cure Ryoma.

Only problem is Fuji has no clue on how to even cure dissociative identity disorder. Actually he doesn't even know much about the disorder itself. Apparently an internet search is in order. Perhaps Fuji could even go to the public library and see if they have any books on psychological disorders. So Fuji got out his laptop and began his search. He was disappointed to see that there were little results in finding a cure and more on what the disorder is all about. It doesn't matter to him what it is except for the basic details, all he wants to know is the cure to it.

Frustrated in getting nowhere he closed his laptop and plopped down onto his bed. Maybe he will just wing it and see how that goes. Yeah that's it. He say saw things relating to a cure, maybe he can just work with that as a base and develop his own kind of treatment. That's sure to work.

What was it that he saw... oh right hypnosis. Fuji knows how to hypnotize people, he's done it before. Now all he has to do is find a way to get Ryoma alone. Should be simple enough. After practice ends all he needs to do is make sure Ryoma stays back with him. Offering a match is guarantee way to make sure Ryoma stays behind. After all Fuji knows Ryoma loves the trill of the match when he plays against him.

Hypnosis should be a method that only has to be done once. It a quick fix and that makes Fuji even happier. Being able to cure Ryoma of his disorder so fast is a dream come true. The quicker Ryoma is cured the faster the two could be together happily. Fuji just wants his Ryoma to be happy. He only wants for his beloved to have a wonderful life. He is only doing thing because he wants what is best for his beloved Ryoma.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys I'm Back :)

So first I want to make some things clear. In no way do I actually believe there is a 'cure' for Dissociative identity disorder. There is a long term treatment for it but technically no 'cure'. Also the treatment is mainly so one can have a stable lifestyle while living with their disorder. At least as far as I'm aware that's the purpose. I'm positive though that DID is not 'curable' like one would think a 'cure' would be.

Just wanted to get that out there. There's a reason I wrote it out the way I did even though I don't actually believe it, its a part of the plot.

Also sorry this chapter is shorter than the rest I had to end it where I did because the I don't have the next part completely finished and if I uploaded it just as I had it then people would defiantly get confused. Besides I couldn't wait any longer to upload you all would get impatient. (and probably kill me)

Speaking of. You know how I said updated will be random. Well I've decided to give it a time frame. Updates shall be every other Tuesday (because Tuesdays and Thursdays are my only free days) while my other story will be uploaded every other Thursday,

Hopefully I can keep with this plan though. Lately I have been having a rough time.

Anyway hope this chapter is okay and until next time Scar out! :P


	5. Mistake

Ryoko woke up feeling great. For some reason, she had felt like today was going to be a good day. Perhaps it was because she was no longer going to be alone.

Her brother was back in town for awhile, and she couldn't wait to spend all day with him. Of course, she had to go to school first, but once that was over, she could pop up at wherever her brother was staying. Speaking of which hopefully he sent her his address otherwise there will be hell to pay.

Ryoga has always been Ryoko's favorite person in the whole world. He was her best friend, and she could trust that he will be there for her. Despite the fact that Ryoga feels as if he doesn't deserve it, or felt as if he failed her in the past. It didn't matter to her. All that mattered is that he is here now and he has remained by her side as best as he could. Ryoko knew that he is only studying to be a psychiatrist because of her. She found it sweet of him but unnecessary. She doesn't need a doctor; there is nothing wrong with her. Sure she has Ryoma, but she doesn't see him as a problem only another part of who she is as a person. Ryoga doesn't seem to understand, and she doesn't expect him too.

However, Ryoga was not the only reason as to why she no longer felt alone. Finally, there was someone else that knew about her. That boy Fuji, who she met at the park, knew of her existence. It filled her heart with joy just thinking about it.

For the longest time, Ryoko was starting to feel as if she was a figment of Ryoma's imagination. She felt fake, like the imaginary friend one would have as a child. Her existence meant nothing and affected nothing because she was never there to begin with. Of course, she knew this was not true, that she was a real person, but it was hard. It was hard to have to hide a part of who she was, the central part of who she was because it would cause problems.

Now with Fuji, there was one more person she can be herself with, and she appreciated it very much.

With a long stretch, Ryoko jumped out of bed and started to get ready for school with a broad smile on her face.

Yes, she was so looking forward to today.

~241~

Classes had gone by rather quickly for Fuji, and that was because he wasn't paying attention but instead was lost his thoughts the entire time.

Today was the day he was finally going to try out his hypnosis theory, and he was very excited. He couldn't wait to get help his Ryoma out and finally confess properly. If all goes well, Ryoma may even be so thankful to him that he will agree to be his forever.

That would be nice, having Ryoma as his forever. Fuji could already imagine their beloved Future. They would get married and adopt two children, probably a boy and a girl. They would teach their kids tennis as well. Fuji would be a professional photographer, and Ryoma would follow his dream to be a pro tennis player. Of course, they would have a massive home so they would be enough room for the four of them. Maybe even get a pet, lots of pets if Ryoma wanted too. It would be magically he already knew.

However, before any of that could happen he needs to cure Ryoma. Once that's done he can confess, and they can start building their relationship until it gets to the point of his fantasies.

So once the bell rang for lunch break to start Fuji waisted no time in bolting out of the classroom to look for Ryoma.

He ran past all the other students, even his best from Eiji. Fuji also ignored the red-headed boy when he tried to say hello. Fuji didn't care or notice anyone else; his only focus was finding Ryoma.

Fuji did stop when he saw the freshmen trio though. Wherever the Trio was, Ryoma was sure to be close behind. So with a deep breath and a broad smile on his face, Fuji naturally made his way over to the three boys.

"Horio-kin, Kachiro-kun, and Mizuno-kun."

The trio looked over at Fuji and smiled.

"Hello, Fuji-sempai," Kachiro replied.

"Have any of you seen Ryoma?" Fuji asked. He would have been more subtle in his approach, but right now all he wanted was to get to his beloved.

"Echizen went to the tennis courts." Mizuno answered.

Fuji nodded. "Did he, Thankyou for telling me."

Fuji then quickly walked away from the three before they can try and continue talking to him. After he was sure to be out of sight, he started running towards the tennis courts. Apparently, Ryoma had not left that long ago because Fuji had already spotted him in the hallway.

Quickly Fuji ran up to Ryoma and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Startled Ryoma looked at the offending hand and then to its owner.

"Fuji-sempai?"

Regaining his breath, Fuji said nothing but grabbed Ryoma's wrist and dragged him down a different direction.

"what the hell sempai! Where are we going?"

Fuji ignored Ryoma and his struggles; instead, he just tightened his grip so Ryoma would not escape. After walking for a while longer, Fuji finally made it to his destination, which was the boy's bathroom.

Fuji stopped, and Roma yanked his hand away and rubbed his wrists. "What was that for? and why did you take me to the bathroom?" he asked Fuji

Fuji just chuckled and stalked closer and closer to Ryoma. Alarmed at Fuji's predatory smile, Ryoma started backing up. When his back touched the bathroom wall, Fuji trapped him by placing his hand on the wall beside Ryoma's body. Ryoma started looking around him for a way to escape.

"Sempai?" he asked with a touch of fear in his voice, because Fuji still had that preditory smile.

"Ryoma, Mind if I try something?"

Ryoma looked up at Fuji suspiciously "What is it?"

Fuji smiled "Nothing terrible I promise, just something I learned recently and just wanted to see if it works."

Ryoma remained quiet for a few more minutes before sighing and nodding his head. Once Fuji had his mind set on something he would get his way no matter what. "Not like I had a choice anyway." he muttered.

Fuji chuckled, opened his eyes and looked at Ryoma seriously. "Good, now I need you to trust me."

Ryoma looked shocked at Fuji's change in demeanor but then nodded and looked him straight in the eye with determination.

Glad that everything seems to be going smoothly, Fuji then lifted his right hand up to his face and started fanning himself. "It sure is hot in here." Ryoma opened his mouth to reply, but Fuji cut him off. "Now stand with your feet close together."

Ryoma looked down at his feet and did as was told, and then Fuji grabbed his chin and forced him to look back up. "Keep looking at me," Fuji said. When Ryoma was back to making eye contact, Fuji let go of his chin and moved his hand towards Ryoma's wrist.

"Now.." Fuji grabbed Ryoma's hand and gave it a quick downwards jerk "Sleep!" he said in a commanding tone.

Ryoma's reaction was almost immediate. His body leaned onto the wall, his chin fell to his chest, and his eyes were closed. It was easy to tell that his body was relaxed and in an unconscious state.

Fuji smirked, glad that the hypnosis is already working fine.

"There is no longer any need to built a protective shield. You are safe. Noone can hurt you anymore."

"Safe..." Ryoma muttered

"Yes safe. No one can hurt you. You do not need to protect yourself."

"Protect..."

"No need to protect yourself. It is okay just to be who you are. Be who you want to be."

"Who..."

"Yes just be you, be Ryoma."

"Ryoma..."

Fuji grinned. So far so good. Now all that was left is to wake Ryoma up and see if it worked how he wanted to. Fuji reached towards Ryoma's hand again to try and wake him from his hypnosis state. However he never even got the chance. His body was suddenly sent flying to the other side of the room, and he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Almost as if someone had kicked him hard. Wait for thats precisely what had happened.

Fuji grabbed his stomach and looked to Ryoma in complete shock. Why had his beloved kicked him like that? Why was Ryoma looking at him with disgust like he was utter trash? Wasnt he just now unconscious?

"Ryoma?"

"Shut up!" Ryoma yelled at him. Only that didn't sound like Ryoma. The voice was slightly higher, and it seemed pained.

"Ryoma, wh-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Fuji snapped his mouth closed and looked at Ryoma with wide eyes. He seriously did not know what was happening or what was wrong. Did he make a mistake with the hypnosis?

"What were you trying to do?" Ryoma asked once he seemed to calm a little bit down.

Fuji raised an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

Ryoma glared at Fuji. "Don't be stupid. What were you trying to accomplish by hypnotizing me?"

Oh, that's what he meant. So did that mean his trick didn't work if Ryoma was already aware of it? Darn time to figure out a new plan to help his beloved. "I was just trying to help you."

"Help me?" Ryoma asked in an annoyed tone. "Do tell sempai what exactly do I need help with?"

"Your disorder, I thought I could cure you by using hypnosis."

Ryoma stayed quiet at that, but if you looked at him, his fists were clenched so hard blood started to drip down his knuckles.

"Cure me?" Ryoma said laughing. It wasn't a cute laugh or even a good one. No, this laugh sounded angry almost devilish. Once done laughing Ryoma glared at Fuji even harder and added in a low tone. "I don't need to be cured."

Fuji shuddered. He has never seen his Ryoma behave like this. "I just thought-"

"I don't want to hear it," Ryoma growled. "I know exactly what you were thinking, and I can't believe that I thought I could trust you."

Okay, that one hurt.

"Ryoma I-"

"I AM NOT RYOMA!"

Fuji's eyes widened. Right he almost forgot about Ryoko. Now he knows what happened.

"Right Ryoko," Fuji said while getting up from the ground. "I understand what I did was wrong now. I apologize."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "You understand why I am mad?"

"Of course. If I had wanted to cure you of your dissociative identity disorder, I would need to start from the source. That would be you, not Ryoma."

Ryoko twitched and started to get angry all over again. "No, you still don't get it. I don't need to be cured, Ryoma is apart of who I am as a person! I don't want to get rid of Ryoma!"

Fuji froze and blinked a couple of times.

Ryoko noticing his reaction deflated. All anger faded away, and instead, shock and realization took place in her eyes.

"You weren't trying to get rid of Ryoma were you." She said softly. "It was me."

"Ryo-" Fuji started to say but stopped himself once he realized he was about to call out Ryoma's name, not Ryoko's.

Ryoko muttered something so softly that Fuji struggled to try and understand. "What?" he asked

"Leave me alone."

Fuji once again flinched.

"I don't want to see you ever again," Ryoko said louder with more courage.

She looked up at Fuji, and he saw the tears in her eyes. He wanted to reach out and wipe those tears away, but the next thing she said froze him as he was.

No. This cannot be happening. This is not what he had wanted to happen. This was not how this story was supposed to be. His Ryoma and he supposed to be together happily and enjoying themselves. They were supposed to have a beautiful future together. Together, being the key word here. What happened? How did this situation turn to such a disaster? Why was Ryoma Running away from him? Fuji thought back to the last thing his beloved had said to him.

 _Stay away from me, and Ryoma too._

What has he done?

* * *

 **A/N:** Hahaha I am so late uploading this. Really I should stop making promises on update days because I can never seem to follow through. I apologize guys, even though you all probably don't believe me and my 'I'm sorries' anymore.

Anyway I don't have much to say right now because most of what I want to add will be told in the next chapter so for now enjoy.

Also please don't be shy and review. I would love to hear if this story is going well or if its complete trash.


	6. Fade

It hurts. It hurts so much.

Ryoko thought she had a new friend that could see her for who she was, not the shell she puts up to protect herself.

Was the encounter in the park a lie. She thought they were getting along. She felt that Fuji knew he was conversing with Ryoko. Did he believe it to be Ryoma the entire time? Did Fuji only see Ryoma? Was Ryoma the real her or was it Ryoko?

Doubt. Nothing but suspicion filled Ryoko's mind. Is she even real? No one knows who she is, no one sees hers. Is Ryoma the primary personality and is she just the alter?

All she could do is run down the hallway balling her eyes out. Past all the shocked faces of Ryoma's schoolmates, and even some of his tennis teammates. She could have sworn she saw a familiar figure calling out to her. However, none of that mattered. She didn't care if people saw her crying. After all, they wouldn't see Ryoko's tears, just Ryoma's. She chuckled bitterly while tears were streaming down her face. Must be shocking seeing the cool, cocky brat everyone knew crying like a big baby. This will probably ruin Ryoma's reputation, but that didn't affect her. Did anything ever affect her?

Ryoko stopped running and tried to see her surroundings through her blurry vision. Somehow she managed to make it to the park she likes to play her violin at. Ryoko collapsed onto the floor and sobbed some more.

Sure she barely knew who Fuji was, but that was the thing. He was the first person Ryoko knew besides her family. This was her fault. She got too attached too fast.

Ryoko started thinking back to the time they met at the park. She recalled the conversations they had. Was that not real?

No, it wasn't. Ryoko remembered seeing a look in Fuji's eyes during the time they spent together. She should have known. At first, she thought that clouded look was because he was cautious about what he said to her. People tend to believe anyone with a mental disorder to be fragile. She didn't think Fuji would be any different, but she ignored it. She felt that because Fuji was talking to her like an actual person that it didn't matter. How wrong she was.

That clouded look wasn't because he was cautious. No, he was seeing the past. He saw the times he spent with Ryoma. He was hearing Ryoma talk. Ryoko never existed to Fuji. She was only an obstacle Fuji felt the need to remove.

Ryoko stopped her tears and stood back up from the ground. The people in the park that kneeled beside her to try and help went utterly unnoticed as she walked away.

Why did it take that stupid hypnotizing trick for her to notice? She was always observant, why didn't she realize this sooner at the park. Was it because of hope. Did her subconscious know the truth but ignored it because she hoped for a true friend.

This is bad; she got too attached. It has been so long hiding that the moment she was finally out in the open her judgment was clouded. Fuji shouldn't matter to her. She only knew him for a day. None of this should be affecting her like it is.

But, it all still hurt. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad if Ryoko hadn't heard what Fuji was saying during the hypnosis.

She took over the moment Fuji had said to trust him. For some reason, Ryoko had felt as if something was off, so she decided to take over for awhile. When she came to, she saw that Fuji had her pinned to the wall and asked for his trust. Ryoko realized the moment Fuji started to fan himself that he was trying to hypnotize her.

Unfortunately, hypnosis does not work on her. Ryoko had to go through it several times during the first few stages of her brother's training. Due to that she knew how it worked, rendering the trick useless. However, Roko decided to humor Fuji anyway. It would do no harm to play along.

So that's what she had done. It surprised Ryoko that Fuji was trying to make her believe she safe. It touched her heart to know that Fuji cared and wanted to help. Her heart dropped, however, the moment he said just to be Ryoma.

Ryoma, was that who he believed she truly was? It hurt her so much and so quickly that she didn't even think when she kicked him across the room. She felt that he deserved it. Ryoko got so angry and wanted to tell him off desperately. It was only a bump in the road of their friendship, once she explained who she was to him their friendship would get back on track. Although that line of thinking was crushed as well the moment she realized Fuji was trying to get rid of Ryoko so that Ryoma was the only one left.

He only wanted Ryoma; he only saw Ryoma. Ryoko was nothing; she was just an obstacle.

Why did she even exist? No one wanted her. Fuji does not want her; Her father did not want her. Does her brother also no want her? Was he trying to do the same thing as Fuji, did he want to 'cure' her too. What was her purpose? Would it be best for her to never exist in the first place? Should she just disappear and leave Ryoma behind. Everyone would be so much happier if Ryoma were the only one to exist anyway. No one even knew about her in the first place, so nothing would change if she disappeared.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. This way everyone would be so much happier.

Ryoko stopped walking and wiped her tears away. Once she knew that there were no signs of her crying left she let out a deep breath and buried her hands in her pockets. A bored look replaced the sadness that was once in her eyes. Ryoko was gone, and Ryoma was now back.

Ryoma blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow at his surroundings. He shrugged his shoulders though and didn't give it much though because this often happened that he stopped being surprised. Instead, he just turned around and made his way back home.

Ryoma stopped however when he felt his phone going off in his pocket. Looking at the caller ID, he groaned and answered the phone.

"Chibiuske should I pick you up after school so we could hang out together?" A cheery voice yelled on the other end.

Ryoma moved the phone away from his face to avoid hearing damage. "Baka-aniki keep your voice down!"

"Ryoma?" Ryoga said confused. Usually, Ryoko answered the phone when he called.

~241~

Momo was super confused when he saw Echizen running out of the bathroom down the hallway crying. Echizen never cried, he was too proud to ever to do something so childish. It was strange, so Momo called out to him to try and figure out what happened. Only he was ignored. Momo was annoyed at being ignored by the brat, but he couldn't do anything about it because the boy had already disappeared around the corner. So instead Momo decided to go to the source, the bathroom. Maybe Echizen was getting bullied. Although, Echizen could handle himself against bullies so that couldn't be it.

Shrugging Momo opened the bathroom door and walked inside. What he saw made him blink several times. Fuji was on his hand and knees muttering incoherencies. Now, this was an unusual sight, but it just made everything even weirder. First Echizen is crying, and now Fuji was insane, wait Fuji was always crazy, but this is the first he's showing the signs so obviously.

"uh?"

Fuji's body twitched, and he moved his body back so he could sit properly on the floor and look at Momo.

Fuji's eyes were fully open, and he looked at Momo with so much regret that it had Momo very worried.

"What happened with you and Echizen?" Momo asked because now it is evident that Echizen was crying because of Fuji and Fuji was looking so unguarded because of something he did to Echizen.

Now, what happened between the two that could cause such an, in his opinion, extreme reaction?

"I may be the worst of the worst kind of person."

Momo raised an eyebrow. Getting information from Fuji may not be as hard as he thought.

~241~

Ryoga stared at his phone in confusion. What happened with his sister? Why had she not appeared the moment he called? Never has Ryoma ever been the one to answer his phone calls, it was always Ryoko. It was strange, and it worried him.

Even though Ryoma said not to go to his practice, Ryoga will go anyway. He wanted to make sure Ryoko was okay. Ryoko has never failed to come out when he makes an appearance before her. Even if its possible that the tennis team could find out about his chibisuke's secret he didn't care. All he cared about was his sister's safety and happiness. His sister was his everything.

For some reason, he had a horrible feeling about what he would discover.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry guys this chapter seems to be the shortest of all the others.

Anyway I am a day late but at least I followed through with the two updates this week right :)

Oh well, seriously though hopefully this story seems to be going well. I have a specific way I want to end the story but no solid details on how to get there. All I got to say is that this story is almost complete.

Honestly I have no experience with romance so this story's ending will probably be terrible.

I did have more things I wanted to say but I forgot. For now until the next update enjoy.


	7. Perturbed

**A/N:** Hey guys so sorry this is late I hadn't finished this chapter on time, unfortunately. It still is not finished because I'm having a problem with what to do next. I have a particular scene all planned out but have no idea how to reach that point. I need a filler basically. So while I figure out what to do, I shall post what I have so far. Therefore this chapter will be really short. Hopefully, I can figure out something very soon.

Enough of me, onward to the story!

* * *

The Next day Ryoma woke up very confused. Usually, in the morning, he would only start becoming aware of his surroundings when he is on his way to school. Ryoma has never been a morning person so he would get through the day as a zombie. The fact that he is currently sitting up at his bed perfectly aware is strange. Maybe he had an excellent nights sleep.

So Ryoma threw his blankets off of him and stepped out of bed. He moved towards his closet and got out his school uniform. Ryoma just stared at it for awhile at a loss for how to start. This whole situation is strange for him. Ignoring this feeling, for now, he got out of his pajamas and put on the uniform.

Finished he finger-combed his hair, brushed his teeth, then grabbed both his tennis bag and school bag. As Ryoma made his way down the stairs, he couldn't help but feel like something was utterly wrong. He doubled checked his things and found that he didn't forget anything for school. Maybe he made plans for today and just didn't remember them. Was that what was causing this nagging feeling.

No, this felt like something disappeared, not just forgotten. Startled Ryoma went back up to his room, seeing the familiar Himalayan cat sleeping at the foot of his bed made him relax. For a moment there Ryoma thought he had lost Karupin. He went over to his bed and started petting his cat. Karupin opened one eye, purred, then went back to sleep. Ryoma smiled, he loved his cat and couldn't bear ever to lose him.

However, if he didn't lose Karupin, what was this feeling of loss for? Did his dad leave? At this thought, Ryoma rushed down the stairs to the kitchen. Usually, when his father left the house for awhile, he would leave a note on the fridge. Seeing no note, Ryoma became even more confused and slightly worried. Where was his father then?

"Seishonen, whats the rush?"

Well, that answered that question. Ryoma turned around and saw his father sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine. Ryoma shook his head.

"Oyaji, did I miss anything?"

Nanjiro glanced up from his magazine and looked over to his son. The two just stared at one another for a long time before Nanjiro sighed and put his magazine down on the table.

"I was hoping you would forget."

Ryoma's eyes widened, so there was something wrong.

"You favorite racket broke yesterday during our game."

~241~

A Mistake. Fuji had made the worst mistake he could have ever done. Why had he not noticed sooner? What made him act like that. The way he behaved was uncalled for.

Why did he act so impulsively?

He should have waited to try the hypnosis. Of course that only works on a particular type of person, especially those that are trusting. Ryoma was not a trusting person. What made him believe that that trick would work on someone like Ryoma.

His biggest mistake was not waiting to try it on Ryoma; he should have waited. Waited until he had wholly gained his trust.

Now, what could he do? He has completely backtracked on his plan to help Ryoma. He is not even allowed to be anywhere near the boy.

Perhaps he could... no, he didn't even know that guy's number. Getting Ryoma's older brother Ryoga to help might be a bad idea anyway. Ryoma probably told his brother all about what he had done.

What had he done? All Fuji could think of is that Ryoma believed he didn't need any help and got mad at Fuji for trying without his permission. Is that why Ryoma's reaction was so extream? Did he need Ryoma's permission before he got himself involved? Fuji had known that Ryoma was a private person and liked to solve his own problems. Maybe Fuji should try to contact Ryoga after all. Everything is just too confusing for him; he needed an insider's advice.

Ryoga would be his best bet.

Now he just needs to get into contact with him somehow.

~241~

Ryoga got to his sister's school campus early and decided to pay a visit to Ryuzaki-sensei. Maybe he could get some information on his sister through her first before he attempts to see her in person. It would be best if he didn't expose his sister so soon to everyone else, but it was necessary he will.

So he made his way to Ryuzaki's office and knocked on the door. It was surprising that no one asked him why he was there in the first place. The school security seems very lax, is this place really safe for his sister?

Ryoga stopped his thinking when a familiar voice instructed him to enter. Opening the door he put on a smile and said a simple hello.

"Ryoga?" Ryuzaki said surprised. "What are you doing here I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Of course, you weren't, no one but my sister knows I'm in town."

Ryuzaki looked incredibly confused. "Sister? I was only aware of Nanjiro having sons. When did

he have a daughter?"

Ryoga sighed, he was surprised, but he was hoping Ryuzaki knew already. His sister indeed was alone whenever he wasn't here. It is a good thing he could count on Fuji then. Maybe now his sister won't be so lonely anymore.

"About that. Nanjiro only has two children, Myself and my sister Ryoko. Everyone knows her as Ryoma though."

Ryuzaki stared wide-eyed. "Really? Why is she pretending to be a boy then."

"Unfortunately she is not pretending. It's a long story and something I do not wish to go into details about. However, Ryoma is biologically a girl named Ryoko. Ryoma is only an alter Ryoko created in the past."

Ryuzaki nodded. "I see. I will not pry. Anyway, Ryoga, not that I love seeing you here, but you only come when you want something. So what do you need from me?"

Ryoga smirked. "Smart as always."

"I have known your family for far too long not to be suspicious when one of you show up in front of me."

Ryoga chuckled then turned serious. "I'm a little worried about my sister and was wondering if it was okay if I oversee your practice."

"Of course you can, on one condition."

Ryoga sighed. "Okay, I will help coach while I'm here."

Ryuzaki shook her head. "Not help. Unfortunately, I have a meeting and will not be at the practice. I had already told the team captain Tezuka he would be in charge, but now I can have you be my replacement."

Ryoga groaned but complied anyway.

Ryuzaki clapped her hands together. "Good, now shall we be on our way. I'll introduce you to Tezuka."

Ryoga nodded and followed Ryuzaki to the school's tennis courts. On the way, he couldn't help but wonder what he would do if it gets to the point where his sister's secret is exposed. He shouldn't be there at the practice, but he couldn't shake this bad feeling he had. Above all else, he needed to make sure his sister was safe.


	8. Distressed

He didn't understand a thing. After his conversation with Fuji in the bathroom yesterday Momo has been lost in his thoughts. The things Fuji said in his unguarded state didn't make sense.

 _"I may be the worst of the worst kind of person."_

 _Momo raised an eyebrow "What do you mean?"_

 _Fuji sighed and remained on the floor, turning his head away from momo. "I betrayed him Momo; he hates me now."_

 _"Fuji, what happened?" Momo asked while leaning against the bathroom wall near Fuji. He didn't want to sit down, that was just disgusting and he didn't understand why Fuji of all people was still sitting there, but he wanted to stay with his teammate to figure out what was going on._

 _"I" Fuji hesitated "I tired a theory out without thinking, and it seemed to have pissed Ryoma off."_

 _Momo tilted his head in confusion. "Theory? for what?"_

 _"To cure him, all I ever wanted was to help him." Fuji sighed and got up from the floor. "Now I'm back at the very beginning." He walked over to momo and looked into his eyes._

 _His eyes portrayed all his regret for what he has done, but there was something else there that Momo couldn't identify. It worried him; Fuji seemed to have lost it. Cure Echizen? Why would the brat need any help? Was he sick? What Theory? It didn't make sense. Momo opened his mouth to ask, but Fuji merely smiled and left the bathroom before he could get any words out._

That whole situation was so unlike Fuji, and Momo had been spaced out for the rest of that day and up to now. Currently, at practice, he has been watching Fuji and Ryoma for any signs what happened the day before.

It seemed as if Fuji was hesitating on getting close to their youngest teammate. Anytime Fuji got near the brat he would freeze and turn back away like he changed his mind. Echizen, on the other hand, seemed perfectly normal and acted like nothing ever happened. Well, for the most part. He was avoiding Fuji but, in Momo's opinion, it almost seemed like an unconscious act. Momo believed that Echizen himself was not aware of the fact that he would move away from the tensai anytime he got nearby.

It could have been on purpose, but from Echizen's expression, Momo didn't think that was the case. Echizen would even look at Fuji with confusion before the boy would shake his head and ignore it.

Momo groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. Seems like he will just have to do some investigating.

~241~

Ryoga followed closely behind Ryuzaki-sensei and the newly introduced Captain Tezuka. He was both excited and frightened at the thought of seeing his sister.

Excited, because it's his sister and that's always a good thing to be happy about. Frightened because of two reasons. One, it is his sister, and she will kill him for exposing her secret. Two, what if something happened like he initially thought.

Th fact that she ignored him the other day was strange and unheard of. Even if she was mad at him, never had she flat out ignored him. Ryoko always acknowledged his presence and would just give him a hard time if she was mad. She knew how much she meant to him and how he would continuously worry if she ignored him. That's why Ryoko always made it a point to come out and talk to him whenever he was nearby.

Ryoga blamed himself. He always thought that if he had just been there for her. If he hadn't run away, then maybe his sister would never have gone through what she did. If only he had seen the early signs, he could have saved her.

He knew there was nothing he could have done though; he was only a kid. Still is but he advanced further than anyone would have thought so that he could do something for his sister. He graduated early, went to college at a young age, was called a genius. All of that was not for himself but rather for his sister. He wants to be able to help her, to be there for her. To atone for his sins of abandoning her in the past when she needed him most.

Of course, Ryoko doesn't blame him. She had said to him many times that none of this was his fault, that he had nothing to atone for. How she appreciated the fact that he was here now and that's all that mattered. However, Ryoga didn't think that way.

He saw how 'Ryoma' didn't like him and assumed that because technically 'Ryoma' is still a part of his sister that there was still a part of her that resented him. That's why it hurt; it pained him to see 'Ryoma' ignore his presence. He tried getting along with 'Ryoma' but the boy never gave him the time of day, and that just strengthened his beliefs of how some part of Ryoko did hate him.

However none of that mattered, he believed he deserved that kind of treatment no matter what Ryoko said. He accepted that.

Ryoga was brought out of his thoughts when they had arrived at the tennis courts. Captain Tezuka had brought his teammates to attention and instructed them to listen to Ryuzaki.  
"Alright, so I'll be away today for some urgent business. I was going to leave Tezuka in charge, but fortunately, A guest arrived and agreed to coach for me. Everyone meet Ryoga, he is an excellent Tennis player and coach, I expect you all to treat him as you would me..."

Ryoga took a step forward when Ryuzaki had said his name so the team could identify him. However, he wasn't focusing on the team before him like he should have been. Instead, he was watching his sister, or more accurately 'Ryoma.' It was obvious that the brat was currently in control. One could easily tell just by the stance and facial expressions, or lack of thereof. When 'Ryoma' heard Ryoga's name, there was no shine in his eyes, or a small smile like Ryoga had expected, just a clicking noise as if he were annoyed. Which with Ryoma that was probably the case. There was no other reaction after that either, causing Ryogas concern to grow. Is his sister okay? Was she mad? It couldn't have been that she didn't want to be exposed because all she needed to do was make an expression to acknowledge him. An expression would be quick, no one but him would notice, and more importantly, it was easily explained if someone did see. Anything to portray that his sister acknowledged him would set his mind at ease, and boy did he need to be reassured. So the next thing he did was look at the person who would most likely have an idea of whats going on.

Although, that might not have been smart either, once he looked over to Fuji Ryoga's bad feeling intensified. Fuji was smiling as always, but upon closer look, the Tensai was white as a sheet and sweating nervously.

 **A/N:** Sorry guys this chapter is really short, Mainly because the next part cant be cut in half.

So Its been so long since I updated and there's a reason for that but I can not say.

Also a few things I would like to mention. Even if It has been very very long since I updated, I will never abandon the story. I will for sure finish this baby, and no one can stop me. So rest assured that even if I disappear for awhile, I WILL be coming back.

Another thing is a few changes I made. Yeah, this story is supposed to be thrill pair. However, after rewriting and coming up with a plan for this story, I discovered that there might be a different possible ending. You know how stories can just write themselves sometimes even though there was an outline in the beginning. Kinda like that :P Its technically because of a particular scene I wrote out that I want to put in this story. Oh well!

Anyway thanks for sticking around with my flaky self, and till then, see ya next update :)


	9. Erroneous

Fuji froze the minute he spotted Ryoma's brother behind their captain and coach. Sure he wanted to talk to Ryoga about the next step to take, but not this soon! Fuji still had not organized his thoughts enough; he was not ready to see how Ryoma's brother will react to his reckless behavior. He especially didn't know if Ryoga would want to talk to him once he sees Ryoma won't even go near him anymore.

Fuji kept his eyes on Ryoga even when Tezuka called the regulars to attention. He never looked away when Ryuzaki introduced the older teen as a son of her old student and during the millions of questions from his fellow teammates about Ryoga's relation to their youngest upon hearing the similar last name. Fuji noticed that Ryoga was subtly trying to get Ryoma's attention whenever he could and knew the exact moment the older brother realized Ryoma wouldn't acknowledge him.

Not good, Ryoga seems genuinely concerned.

When Ryoga finally made eye contact with Fuji, he tried his hardest to appear as if nothing was wrong. However, based on Ryoga's narrowed eyes of suspicion, it seems like Fuji was more worried than he first thought. Crap!

~241~

Ryoga had decided to set up matches for the regulars to gauge their abilities. He had never seen the team play before, so he had no idea how to train them all correctly. After seeing each of them play Ryoga hummed and nodded to himself. He clapped his hands and gathered the regulars together for an announcement.

"Now, I've decided to have you all go through the same training my father had chibisuke and I go through."

Ryoma paled and clicked his tongue. "Your kidding."

Ryoga smirked. "Nope." he said popping the 'p' more than necessary. "Ryuzaki-sensei probably had you guys do something similar before since she was the person who taught it to our father. There will be three different colored cones, and the goal is to hit the corresponding colored tennis ball to the right cone. However, the catch is that you will be using a stick instead of a racket. You must do this 100 time consecutively without messing up to complete this exercise. If you mess up at any point, you must run a lap around the entire campus."

Inui's eyes glinted. "Shall I prepare some of my special Inui juice again for those that mess up, Ryoga-san?"

Ryoma's eyes widened. "Aniki! Don't you dare!"

Ryoga looked confused at Ryoma's shout and turned to Tezuka. "I have no idea what he is talking about, so I will let you decide."

Tezuka shook his head. "10 laps around the school should be sufficient punishment."

All the regulars sans Fuji and Inui sighed in relief.

"Ryoga smiled. "Fair enough. Now the point of this is to improve your focus, accuracy, and power. Using a stick instead of a racket gives you limited range to hit the ball, you must hit it right and with enough strength to get it where you want it to go. Also if you mess up the laps will improve your stamina."

The regulars nodded, and Ryoma groaned.

"Good, Who wants to go first."

~241~

After each person completed the exercise, Tezuka, Fuji, and Ryoma being the only ones not to make any mistakes during the whole thing, Ryoga had them play matches against each other again. Because some messed up more than others, the exercise took longer than Ryoga was expecting. It didn't matter though because Ryoga was sure Ryuzaki will have him coach more now that she knows he's in town. So he only had time to do this training and not the other ones he wanted to try with the team as well. However during the matches, the team did notice some improvements in their movements, so time was not a complete waste in Ryoga's eyes. Once practice was over they all thanked Ryoga and made their way back to the clubroom to change out of their practice clothes. Everyone except Fuji because Ryoga had caught the tensai's eye and silently instructed the boy to stay behind. Momo who noticed this exchange frowned but still went back to the clubroom with the others.

When the two were alone, Ryoga spoke first. "Fuji, How is everything?"

"What do you mean Ryoga-san?" Fuji asked innocently.

Ryoga sighed and ran his hand through his hair; he didn't have the patience for this. "My sister, what happened? She seems different, not once had she acknowledged me since that time at the sushi restaurant."

Fuji flinched.

"I figured since you told me you were going to keep an eye on her you would know what was going on."

"Unfortunately I have no idea why she hasn't talked to you." Fuji answered. It wasn't a lie; he really didn't know. Fuji thought that Ryoma would instantly tell his own brother what happened. Ryoma was only mad at him right.

Ryoga sighed. "Well, I guess I will have to confront her then." He then laughed nervously. "She might get angry with me though."

Fuji nodded and signaled Ryoga to follow him to the club room where the rest of the team should be. When the two arrived, however, no one was there except for momo. Who was sitting on the bench, eyes closed, arms crossed, and a serious expression on his face.

Hearing people come in momo opened his eyes and looked up at the two newcomers. "I want to know why our freshmen prodigy won't go anywhere near our tensai and why our substitute coach keeps eyeing his own brother with concern." Momo stated right away, causing the two to stiffen in surprise.

Registering Momo's words Ryoga turned to Fuji. "Wait, what is he talking about? Did something happen with you two that's causing my sister to act like this?"

"Sister?" questioned Momo. "I didn't know Echizen had a sister?"

Ryoga blinked at Momo and facepalmed. "Right...you don't know."

Momo growled. "Exactly! I'm tired of being in the dark and believe I have a right to know what the hell is happening with my best friend!"

Ryoga watched Momo for a second and his eyes softened. "It wouldn't hurt."

Fuji seemed to become nervous at this remark.

"Momoshiro, was it?"

Momo nodded. "Momo is fine too."

"Momo, you seem to be mistaken about something. I only have one sibling, and that is my sister Ryoko."

Momo blinked confused. "What about Ryoma?"

Ryoga turned to Fuji. "Not as smart as you, I'm guessing. "

Fuji chuckled, and Momo frowned.

"Ryoma is biologically a girl named Ryoko," Ryoga continued explaining once again directing his attention to Momo. He told him everything he said to Fuji that day at the Restaurant. Ryoga was patient with Momo and answered every single one of the boy's questions. Finally, after about half an hour, Momo nodded in understanding.

"Anf Fuji already knew about this?" Momo asked.

Fuji nodded. "Not for very long, only a couple of days but yes."

Momo nodded again. "That explains so much more now. Especially with what you said about curing Echizen yesterday."

Fuji froze, and Ryoga narrowed his eyes. "What?!" Ryoga asked in a low voice.

Momo looked at Ryoga weirdly but didn't get a chance to say anything because the older teen grabbed Fuji by the collar and shoved him against the clubroom wall.

"What did you say?!" He growled at Fuji.

Fuji shook his hands in front of Ryoga rapidly. "Ryoga-san, let me explain!"

Ryoga snarled but reluctantly let the boy go, although not too nicely.

"Talk, now!" he spat out. Obviously, Ryoga was pissed off, and Momo had no idea why.

Fuji fixed his shirt and tried to talk to Ryoga calmly. "Remember how I told you that I wanted to help Ryoma."

Ryoga glared. "Ryoko."

"Right, well I did some research and looked up ways to help those with dissociative identity disorder. Unfortunately, there wasn't much there except a hypnosis technique."

Ryoga looked like he wanted to say something but decided to let Fuji continue.

Fuji nodded appreciating the chance. "I tried out my theory yesterday, but it had backfired. I didn't think about asking permission first, and I lost Ryoma's trust."

Ryoga had his fists balled up at his sides so hard his knuckles were turning white. "Fuji"

Momo was getting nervous, Ryoga looked like he wanted to kill and Fuji was watching innocently.

"I will kill you."

"AH, wait Ryoga-san!"

"NO! YOU MORON!" Ryoga once again grabbed Fuji and shoved him against the wall. "How could you have done something so reckless and stupid. Not to mention you don't seem even to understand what you did wrong!"

Fuji looked confused. "Was it not that I needed to ask Ryoko permission to try and use Hypnosis to cure Ryoma?"

Ryoga growled. "YOU DONT ' _CURE_ ' DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER!"

Momo got up and placed a hand on Ryoga shoulder to calm the teen down. "Ma ma, we should talk this out more calmly."

Ryoga sneered and shoved Fuji one more time before backing away and sitting on the bench where Momo was at moments ago. He rubbed his temples in frustration. "Ryoko cannot be ' _cured_ '. Besides hypnosis would never work even if you did have permission."

Fuji looked confused. "What do you mean. I know for hypnosis to work correctly there needs to be established trust, but I did have his trust."

Ryoga growled once again. " _Her_ trust isn't what I was talking about. During my early stages of training, I tried hypnosis as well. Unfortunately, with all the times it was used on Ryoko she became aware of the technique rendering it completely useless. Ryoko is immune to hypnosis tactics."

"I see, so she was conscious during the whole process. That still doesn't explain her reaction. If she knew what I was trying to do the whole time why did she explode on me?" Fuji asked in wonder.

"Ryoga glared. "What exactly did you say to her?"

Fuji shrugged. "Nothing terrible, just that I wanted to help and that this was a safe place. A place where he can just be himself and not have to worry about protecting himself."

Ryoga twitched. "What were your exact words?"

"something like _'There is no longer any need to build a protective shield.' 'You are safe'_ and _'It's okay to be who you want to be. Be Ryoma'_ "

A loud bang could be heard from the clubroom startling the birds and other animals to scatter away in fear.

"Be Ryoma?" Ryoga asked in a dangerously low voice. Momo shivered in fear at the tone and sight of the cracked bench. He looked nervously at his teammate and the older teen.

"Yeah." Fuji said not noticing the tense atmosphere. "So Ryoma would understand that he doesn't need his alter any more."

"Fuji."

Fuji hummed.

"I don't want you anywhere near my sister ever again."

Fuji opened his eyes wide with shock.

"If I hear or see you go near my sister, I _swear_ I will murder you on the spot. I _cannot_ believe I started to trust you!"

"I don't underst-"

" _Shut up!_ "

Momo was super tense during the whole exchange. He had noticed something earlier and wanted to comment, but he never got a chance to. Right now both Fuji and Ryoga were staring at each other in complete silence. Fuji, not one to back off and Ryoga trying to stop himself from killing Fuji on the spot. Neither boy wanted to leave the clubroom anytime soon, so this was Momo's best chance to say what he wanted. The thing was, he didn't know how the two would react.

Taking a deep breath and calming his nerves some he decided it's now or never and this was important for his best friend.

"I may not be an expert, but..." He paused to make sure he had both Fuji and Ryoga's attention. "The way I see it both of you are in the wrong and don't even realize it."

Ryoga glared at Momo. "I'm in the wrong?" he said with a growl. " _I'm_ not the one who obviously hurt my sisters feelings!"

Momo shrugged. "Maybe not directly..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, clearly Fuji only see's Ryoma. His actions are all revolved around Ryoma. Fuji even uses male pronouns and Ryoma's name to address your sister when she is present. He doesn't see Ryoko and instead sees purely Ryoma."

Ryoga nods, acknowledging that he realized that in these past few minutes and Fuji merely frowns.

"But Ryoga-san you are the same. You only see Ryoko."

* * *

 **A/N:** haha so Ryoga found out and now Momo is involved. Lots of stuff to come next chapter. *Evil smile*

Also I was thinking of renaming this story. I don't know the title kinda bothers me, any ideas on what it should be? Unless you all like it just fine.

Anyhoo I want to take a moment to reply to some reviews because I haven't done that in awhile. Lol sorry

Littlepanther: As you can see yes Ryoga did go ballistic, you most definitely need to be praying for the soul of Fuji. Honestly I didn't mean for everything to turn out like this. The original plot line was much happier, but there's just something about those dark twists.

Guest: You asked "What happened between nanjiroh and ryoko to cause ryoma to come out? Does nanjiroh not like his daughter, but his son, ryoma instead?"

I cannot tell you this exact moment because I do explain everything in the future and that would be considered spoilers. Actually all of your questions will be answered once the tension between Ryoga, Fuji, Momo, and Ryoko/Ryoma dies down. So please bear with me and soon all will be revealed.


	10. Confrontation

Ryoga was gaping like a fish at Momo's words. How was that possible. He acknowledges the existence of Ryoma; he knows the need for him to be around. It's not like he wants to get rid of the alter Ryoma, unlike Fuji who tried to get rid of Ryoko because he believed her to be the alter instead. Ryoga was not like that at all, was Momo not completely understanding the situation?

"I think you may be mistaken Momo, why would I be anything like that bastard over there?" Ryoga asked while pointing over towards Fuji, who was staring wide-eyed at Momo.

Momo raised an eyebrow. "I didn't mean it like you two were the same but that you had similar approaches."

Ryoga motioned Momo to continue.

"Now, again I'm no expert but, looking back." Momo paused to rearrange his thoughts. "The first person you see when you look at Echizen is Ryoko regardless if its Ryoma currently out. Like at the practice today, you immediately focused on your brother and ignored the rest of us until you needed to. The way you were explaining things to me earlier, it was only about Ryoko never once did you mention Ryoma unless you were talking about an alter."

Ryoga blinked and opened his mouth to say something but closed it right away.

Fuji chuckled nervously. "Momo, I didn't know you could be so smart."

Momo frowned. "I can have my moments."

"Of course but Dissociative Identity Disorder? Who knew you would be so knowledgeable about it." Fuji commented

Momo sighed. "I don't know everything about the science behind it; I just know how to interact with someone with it."

"I see."

It got awkwardly silent again after that, so Momo decided to continue his point from earlier.

"I am not saying that you both were completely wrong but both of you were ignoring one part of who they are as a whole and I don't think that's the right way."

"One part of a whole?" Fuji questioned. "I don't understand what you're talking about?"

Ryoga remained quiet with his head down, and his hands were clutching the front of the bench. Momo took a glance at the other teen worried but answered Fuji's question. "I mean that Dissociative Identity Disorder is a person with multiple personalities right? So Echizen, one person, has two personalities; Ryoma, and Ryoko. Even though they are separate personalities they are still one person. Ryoma needs Ryoko as much as Ryoko needs Ryoma. Treat them each as a person but don't separate the two. You cannot have one without the other, something you both are missing."

"That's not fair to them though treating them as if they were the same," Fuji commented. "It would be like saying twins are the same person."

Momo shook his head. "That's not what I meant though. I only meant that they share the same body, you both needed to understand that point. Instead, you each are assuming only one person controls that body instead of two. Fuji you only see Ryoma and assume that Ryoko shouldn't be there, whereas Ryoga assumes that Ryoma shouldn't be there. Sure Ryoko may have been the original, but that doesn't matter anymore, Ryoma exists and has for a very long time. He is now his own person living in the same body as Ryoko. Treat them individually, but don't assume that the other person doesn't have as much right as the other."

The room got deathly silent after Momo finished explaining his thoughts. Neither Fuji nor Ryoga made a move to speak or leave the room. Momo was sweating and worried he might have overstepped his bounds. Fuji was leaning by the door head down in thought, and Ryoga hadn't moved at all since earlier. Momo wanted to say something, anything to break this awkward tension but he knew they needed time to think for themselves. It will not take a day to get them both to understand what he means, and it defiantly will not take a day for them to change their methods approaching Echizen.

Suddenly Ryoga stood up and left the club room without so much as a sound. Fuji looked up and watched the older teen go, then looked towards Momo and gave a sad smile before leaving himself. Momo was now alone in the clubroom and super worried about the two boys who disappeared. He moved to the bench Ryoga was just at and grabbed his head in frustration.

He didn't mean to give the two a lecture; he only intended to figure out what was wrong with his best friend. Fuji had been acting strange lately and then that incident in the bathroom. Momo is not one to watch and ignore a problem going on around him. Especially if it concerned the people he cared about. That's why when he noticed Ryoga hold fuji back he immediately decided to confront them. Both Fuji and Ryoga were acting strangely concerning Echizen, and he had to know why. He only wanted to help.

He didn't want to be a mediator though.

Most people think he's stupid and only has tennis on the brain. Of course those people are right, but that didn't mean he didn't know anything else besides tennis. Momo was a people person; he knew how and liked interacting with others. He had once met this boy at the street courts when he was younger who developed an alter that would only appear if threatened. Sort of like Akaya from Rikkidai but a more severe case. It developed because the boy was always getting bullied and there was no one to protect him.

Never would he have expected Echizen to have something like Dissociate Identity Disorder though. It was strange; Momo had never seen the signs before. He should have figured it out. He did have experience with a similar case in the past, so it should have been more evident to him. Momo was telling the truth when he said he wasn't an expert but that didn't mean he didn't understand. Something had to have happened for Ryoko to create Ryoma; the question was when and why.

When was Ryoma created and Why was he needed?

"Would you like to know?"

The sudden voice made Momo jump in his seat. He wasn't expecting someone to be in the clubroom at this time and he defiantly was expecting an answer to his silent questions. He looked towards the door at the newcomer. It would appear to be Ryoma at first glance, but the way in which they held themselves, the look in their eye, and the expression of pain and sadness on their face, it was apparent it wasn't him. Momo had never seen Ryoko behave before, he literally just found out about her, but he could tell that this must be her.

Momo smiled. "Ryoko right?"

Ryoko looked surprised at first but gave the boy in front of her a sad smile and nodded. "You look familiar, I've seen you before haven't I?"

Momo tilted his head in confusion; he hadn't met Ryoko.

"Ah, wait you're in the tennis club with Fuji and Ryoma, so you were at that stadium that one time right?"

Stadium? Does she mean the Nationals?

"I remember now; You were the player with the incredible dunk smash. It was so cool that I had to ask you to do it again so I could see if I was able to return it." Ryoko said with a glint in her eye and a broad smile on her face.

Momo blinked and then remembered precisely what she was talking about. "Ryoma didn't lose his memories at that time; it was you who was out."

Ryoko kept smiling and nodded. "Honestly though it wasn't my intention to be out. Something happened to Ryoma; he was suppressed for the time being. I was merely looking out for him by letting him rest for awhile. Don't ask me what happened because I don't know, I just had a bad feeling and took over."

Momo nodded. "So you play Tennis as well then?" he asked.

"Only as a hobby, I don't have any flashy moves like most, but I do excel at the basics. It's more muscle memory than anything else since I always played when I was young." Ryoko's smile then fell, and Momo started getting worried all over again. "I heard you know."

"Huh?"

"What my brother, Fuji, and you were talking about in here." Ryoko elaborated. "I had another bad feeling and decided to check it out. When I got close to the club room, I heard loud noises like arguing. I figured it would be between my brother and Fuji. However, I wasn't expecting another person to be involved."

Momo sighed. "I wasn't supposed to be, but I couldn't ignore a problem when I see one."

Ryoko smiled. "I appreciate it. All of it, what you said to my brother and Fuji-san. I believe they will come to understand your point after they think it over a while. Both people are smart in their own way; there is no need to worry about them."

Momo looked at Ryoko. The girl was very much different from Ryoma. She had more expressions and wore her feelings on her sleeves. He could tell that she cared more about others than she did herself, almost to the point of it being a fault. Momo could read her like an open book from just this initial meeting. It was a significant contrast to Ryoma, and it got him wondering once again why he was created in the first place.

"You're not worried about yourself?" he asked instead of the question he was currently thinking.

Again Ryoko gave another sad smile. "It doesn't matter in the end." Momo wanted to argue that, but she interrupted him. "I did ask you a question, were you going to answer me?"

"A question?" Momo asked with his face scrunched up in confusion.

Ryoko giggled. "Yeah, when I first got here."

Momo blinked then realized what she meant.

Ryoko smiled when she saw Momo understood. "Would you like to know? About me, my past, and about Ryoma?"

* * *

 **A/N:** This is once again short because I didn't want to separate the next part. Sorry about that.  
Soon we will get to the roots of the problem, and it shall be WONDERFUL!  
Just kidding, it will probably be kinda sad. I'm not sure how well I will do with tear jerkers.

Anyhoo see you next update!


	11. Foreboding

**A/N:** Hey guys its been awhile, sorry about that. Honestly, life is a roller coaster. There was so much going on these past few weeks that I haven't been as motivated to write as I should be. I could give you a super long sob story or I could give you a basic rundown, and I'm sure you just want me to stop talking. So short list it is.

1\. I moved again (45 minutes away from where I was living at the time)  
2\. My eating disorder returned (bring on the depression)  
3\. I had a major fight with my parents (haven't spoken to them in a month)  
4\. My grandfather passed out at the store (first time ever being admitted as an inpatient at the hospital, he wasn't happy)  
out my grandfather had bladder stones which he needed surgery for (50% survival rate but still risky in elderly patients, he's 95 btw)  
6\. My boyfriend is being an asshole (won't communicate with me and I'm pretty sure he believes I would cheat on him. which hurts me)  
7\. My computer died on me and I had to go get a new one (all my lovely saved data *cries*)  
8\. Numbers 1-7 were all happening at the same time!

Good news is that half of that is all over with. Only 2, 3, and 6 are remaining. I don't know how often or if I will update, I'm trying to get all my notes together. But remember I promise you that I WILL FINISH THIS STORY EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!

Oh and for those that are keeping up with The Vampire Prince, I regret to inform you that I have not finished the next chapter yet, because of number 7 mentioned above I don't have all the already written up chapters and information I saved for the story. So, unfortunately, I have to go back and see where I was going with it. Worst case I'll just have to go with my gut and do something new, I may even have to re-write the whole story. I don't know yet I'm still trying to figure that out. So I ask that you continue being patient with me and I shall do my best for you guys.

ONWARD WITH THE TALE

* * *

"You don't have to tell me anything," Momo replied, sure he wanted to know but that information is sensitive, and he didn't want to the pressure the girl.

Ryoko smiled and walked closer to Momo; then she sat down on the bench right next to him. "I know, but you want to understand right? I can see it in your face how confused and interested you are in my situation. You're holding back your curiosity for my sake, which I appreciate, but I don't mind telling it if it's you."

Momo blushed and turned his head away. "Ah, um. How about we talk more about ourselves first. After all I don't know anything about you."

Ryoko's eyes lit up, and she nodded. "What do you want to know?"

Momo turned his head back to look at her and smiled. "You said you played tennis but only as a hobby, so what do you do seriously?"

Ryoko hummed and looked up at the ceiling. "If you're asking about sports, it would be swimming, but I'm very dedicated to my violin playing more than anything else. I've loved it since I was very little."

"Wow! you play, that's awesome!"

Ryoko smiled. "I'm guessing you are only a tennis nut."

Momo mocked pouted. "Hey! I do more than just play tennis."

Ryoko looked at him with amusement. "Oh? like what?"

"l-like um..." Momo frantically looked around.

Ryoko giggled, and Momo was so mesmerized by the sound that he couldn't come up with some excuse. "alright fine you got me."

"I figured since you said your friends with Ryoma. Birds of a feather flock together."

Momo smiled. "I guess so." He then thought a bit before he asked a question he's been wondering about. "Ryoko, do you know a lot about Ryoma?"

Ryoko put a finger to her mouth and stared up at the ceiling. "I'd like to think so. I don't know everything about him, but I have an idea. Based on the clues left behind and the things in our room, I know for a fact tennis is his life. He seems to be quite annoying and stubborn. Very confident in his abilities and a brat. Of course, those were all things my brother said about him." Ryoko sighed. "I want to know more but its difficult to do on my own." She then smiled over at Momo. "Honestly it doesn't matter anyway."

Momo frowned. The way she said that last sentence was worrying, she sounded defeated. Almost like she gave up. Why? Momo had no clue. But he did know that something was bothering her. He couldn't do anything about it now, but he sure will try in the future. It happened so fast, but in this short time talking to her and hearing about the situation with Ryoga and Fuji, momo just felt the need to protect. Almost like an older brother. He had siblings so he knew the feeling and he felt that towards Ryoko rather easily. It surprised him, but he thought maybe that had to do with the fact that Ryoma was his best friend. He didn't want to think like that though, it would be unfair for Ryoko. He needed to separate the personalities from each other, he needed to show her that he was friendly to her because shes herself not because of the fact that he knew Ryoma.

"I think it does matter, Also what is it like with your family?" Momo innocently asked, wanting to get to know more.

Ryoko gave Momo a sad smile, and her eyes started to get glassy. "My family is complicated. Of course, there is my overprotective brother. he cares too much about me that it could be considered his weakness. Other than that you could call him a prodigy. He's incredibly smart and despite his young age, he is already well on his way to graduating and getting his degree in psychology. He wants to become a therapist that helps those with mental disorders. I think he will do exceptionally well in his field." Momo made a weird face at that and Ryoko chuckled. "Yeah, he's a little blind concerning matters he's close to, its why he can't treat me. However, with others, he's brilliant. He understands their problems and tries to relate to them in a way that's helpful and not suffocating. My brother really will be a great therapist..."

Momo nodded. "And your parents?"

Ryoko hesitated and turned her head away. At first, Momo thought that she wouldn't answer but then she looked back at him with tears in her eyes and replied. "My mother died when I was born, and my father... Well, he doesn't know I exist."

"What?!" Momo was beyond shocked, so her father was the direct cause. "What do you mean? What exactly happened?"

Ryoko turned her head away again. "So you do want to know then?

Momo hesitated "Of course, but only if you really want to tell me. I'll understand if you don't."

"Most of what I know is from stories I've heard from relatives or my own brother. I don't actually know myself because I was barely a newborn. Apparently, after my brothers birth, my father desperately wanted another son. He couldn't raise Ryoga-ni because his grandma gained custody of him. My father was upset and really wanted a boy he could raise himself, so he begged my mother to give him a son. After trying several times, my mother finally became pregnant with me. During the entire pregnancy, my father was convinced I was going to be a boy, there wasn't a single doubt or thought otherwise. In his mind, there was no possible way he could have a daughter instead of a son. Because of this, he got my mother hyped up as well as where even she believed I would be a boy. The nursery was decorated accordingly, the walls were baby blue with tennis ball stickers. The carousel above the crib even had tennis related charms. Everything was prepped to be for a baby boy. My father was so happy because he would have the son he always dreamed of having, someone to pass his tennis skills and knowledge to, someone he could give his dream to." Ryoko got quiet for a moment then continued in a shaky voice. "The day my mother went into labor was supposed to be a cause for celebration. My father couldn't have been more excited to see his child. But then something went wrong. One moment my mother was perfectly healthy and the delivery process was going smoothly, then the next she was gone and the doctors had to surgically remove me from her."

Momo's heart broke, never getting the chance to meet your own mother must have been hard for Ryoko. For her father too, the pain of losing his own wife when they were supposed to gain a new member of their family. Momo did not know what he would have done had he been in either situation.

"My father lost it the moment he heard the news, he would have trashed the hospital room had the nurses not stopped him. The only thing he could look forward to was the fact that his _son_ survived. When the nurse handed me over to my father and told him congratulations on having a girl, something inside him broke. No one is completely sure about how he felt at that moment but all that my brother knows is that he was never the same after. Ryoga-nii said that I grew up normally, that it wasn't until I turned 6 years old that Ryoma was created. He told me he doesn't know exactly what happened with our father, just that he snapped. Of course, I don't remember anything either. However everytime I see him myself or hear him nearby I feel frightened. My instincts tell me to hide away and never to come back out until its safe again. I feel fear wash over my entire body in my own father's presence."

Ryoko finally looked back over at Momo and what he saw almost made him wish he never let her tell him this story. Her face was deathly white and her eyes were as wide as could possibly be. The look of pure fear had momo frozen in his seat. He didn't know what to think or what to do. Then she spoke that last sentence that had Momo internally crying out for someone to help this poor girl.

" **I fear that he will kill me**."


	12. Redemption

Fuji didn't know where he went wrong. Obviously, there was more to this whole situation than he realized. Were his feelings for Ryoma really that strong to where it clouded his judgment on what was truly right? Did he really mess up that badly?

According to Momo, he did. Speaking of, where did Momo suddenly get all his knowledge from. It confused fuji because he never took Momo to be a smart person. No insult to Momo but he just seems like the all brawns and no brains type of athlete. But that does not matter at the moment.

Fuji knew he needed to start getting his act together. He needs to stop acting based on his feelings for Ryoma and start acting on what's best for Ryoko and Ryoma as a whole. Because just as Momo said the two are separate but the same all in one. He hated the fact that it took a conversation with Momo to realize this, even if he didn't completely understand at the moment. Fuji knew for a fact though that he did not want to lose either of them in his life.

He needs to expand his knowledge, see the world, and learn all he can. That's his goal. Sure he was still very young, in middle school no less, but he already knew the path he will take. Fuji wants to fix his mistakes, he wants to be a better person. If that meant distancing himself until he understands better then so be it.

~241~

Ryoga knew he messed up big and he hated himself for it. A middle schooler had to point it out to him, and that made him feel worse. His own sister trusted and looked up to him and he betrayed that trust by ignoring and refusing to acknowledge another side to her. What kind of family member was he? She already got enough of that from her father and Ryoga never expected to be on the same level as that man. Maybe he was exaggerating, Ryoko would never compare him to their father. But that didn't change the fact that he screwed up.

This was his field of expertise, he shouldn't have made a mistake. He should have known what to do. Momo was right, his judgment was clouded because of the family bond. This is why they say its never a good idea to treat those you know personally, especially family.

The only thing he could do now is back off on trying to treat his own sister and try to get to know her other side. He needed to try and bond with Ryoma. No, this won't be because he feels the need to but rather because he wants to. That brat Momo was right. Ryoma was his own person and its about time Ryoga treated him as such. He was not only Ryoko's brother but Ryoma's too.

~241~

Momo didn't know what to say. It shouldn't be right to fear one's own father. To think that Ryoko fears he will kill her is insane. Why would a parent ever want to harm their own child? Also, why was her father so obsessed with having a boy in the first place.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand" Momo said after a really long moment of silence.

Ryoko sighed. "I know, neither do I. As far as I remember my father was always a kind man. When I was young he would teach me tennis and we would play outside on the street courts. He would also make fun of my height and tease me for not being able to get any points against him. It was a normal parent-child relationship. Occasionally Ryoga-nii would visit and join us playing tennis. Tennis was our life, it was how we bonded, and it was what broke my father."

"Right you said at the age of 6 Ryoma was created."

Ryoko nodded. "I guess you could say the reason why everything was going on so well was that in my father's eyes I was a boy. Even though the doctors informed him of my real gender he chose to ignore it and continue thinking of me as his son. Child me never realized this until much much later but by then the damage was already done. Like I already said before I have no memory of the moment Ryoma was created, or to what lead up to that point. I think I'm psychologically blocking it. Or most likely that memory is associated with Ryoma because that's the moment he was born so only he remembers what happened. I don't know, and I never bothered Ryoga to find out, because I don't care."

Momo gave Ryoko a sad smile, he could never imagine being in her situation. However, there was one thing that still didn't make sense. "Sorry but that still doesn't explain why you would be scared of your father hurting you."

Ryoko looked away. "You know of muscle memory right? I think its the same concept. Whatever happened in my memory gap probably caused me to fear my father. It's not like simple yelling would cause a new personality right?" She gave a weak smile and her eyes became glassy. "Something really bad must have happened to trigger such a drastic change in my psychological state. I don't want to fear my father but I also can't help it."

Momo remained silent, she had a point and he didn't know what to say to comfort her.

"I don't want to live in fear, I don't want to live another day as if I don't exist!" Ryoko started crying. "Everyday is the same thing over and over again, Its as if I don't leave my room at all. I want to see the world, I want to be able to do the things that make me happy like play the violin. I want to be normal. I don't want to have to sneak out of my own house just to try and be myself. I want to make my own friends have people who recognize me for me not someone else. I'm tired of living in a box.

Imagine feeling like your nothing but a figment of someone else's imagination. Feeling like you are not even a real person. Imagine thinking the world would be better off without you then realize it already is. Thinking that all this is just one terrible dream of another person. Imagine knowing that no one knows who you are and that there is nothing you can do about it.

That's what I think and feel every moment of my existence. When Ryoma is in control I'm merely sitting with my knees to my chest in darkness going over all the things I want to do in my head, because dreaming is the best I could ever hope for. I don't have goals, I don't have something that I look forward to in my future. All my life consisted of is taking care of Ryoma, what does Ryoma need, what does Ryoma want to do. All that mattered is Ryoma!"

Ryoko cried even harder and the tears just wouldn't stop. "I'm tired and I am almost ready to give up."

Momo moved closer to her and pulled her into his embrace. He let her cry into his chest for what seemed like hours rocking back and forth in an attempt to comfort her. Momo didn't know what else to do besides this. He had nothing to say, he didn't even know what he could say. The entire time she was telling her story Momo was rooted to his seat in silence. What do you say to a person who is obviously at their breaking point in a situation you don't understand yourself.

Ryoko cried into Momo for as long as the tears kept falling. It was only when she ran out did she sniff, wipe her face with her arms, and pull away from the boy.

"I'm sorry. I did not intend for you to see that, nor did I want to drag you into my problems." She said once she had a better hold on her emotions

Momo shook his head. "Its fine, I don't mind."

They sat in awkward silence for a few more minutes but then Ryoko stood up and went to leave. Startled Momo grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Wait" he said.

Ryoko looked back at him. Momo didn't even know why he stopped her in the first place. He just had this sudden feeling that once she left he wouldn't see her again.

"Yes?" she asked sadly, almost as if she knew what he was feeling and was confirming it.

There were several things Momo wanted to say but he settled on one. "Tell me you at least have a plan." She looked confused so momo elaborated. "With your father, you can't keep going as you have been. Not now with what happened between you, Fuji-sempai, and Echizen-san. Besides even if you could, I don't think you should. It's tearing you apart inside."

Ryoko looked thoughtful. "I suppose its about time I did something. Even if I am afraid, its as you said. I can not keep going like this." Ryoko laughed bitterly "And to think everything happened in only a matter of a few days."

She tugged her wrist from Momos grip and continued to the door. She stopped cast one last glace to momo, smiled, and waved.

She walked out before Momo had the chance to stop her again, and by the time he made it out the door to give chase she was already long gone.

~241~

After that day Ryoma Echizen had gone missing.

Ryoga continued to help out Ryuzaki-sensei during the tennis club practices but he wasn't as cheerful as he used to be. The team also wasn't as happy and energetic with Ryoma gone.

The school told them that he transferred to a new school because his family had decided to move back to the united states.

Momo was not too sure that was the whole story. When he confronted Ryoga he didn't get many answers. He had asked where they went after he had not seen from either Ryoko or Ryoma in over a week. The sight Ryoga made was frightening, to say the least. He had gotten skinnier, paler, and looked like he hadn't been sleeping well.

Apparently, he didn't know either, and when he stopped by the old house no one was there. Not even their father. Eventually, Ryoga got a letter from Ryoko explaining things and Momo appreciated the fact that Ryoga waited for him to open it up.

Ryoma/Ryoko was doing well. The letter was vague but they promised to send letters periodically to them so they would not worry. Momo and Ryoga were glad for this. The two boys even went to Fuji to show him the letter because the poor boy was beating himself over Ryoma/Ryoko's disappearance.

It was after everyone on the team graduated high school when a letter addressed to the old seigaku tennis team from Ryoma arrived. It was nothing out of the ordinary but what was not expected was a letter addressed to only Momo and Fuji from Ryoko that arrived at the exact same time. Yes, they received letters from her but it was always added to the bottom of Ryoma's letters. So it was shocking to see that this time it was separate.

Ryoma never changed but it was Ryoko's letter that filled them with hope.

* * *

 _Hey Senpais,_

 _Hope everyone was doing well, Congratulations to the last of you to graduate high school. Sorry, I could not make it but I have been very busy here in the U.S._

 _To make up to you lot I have a surprise but You will just have to wait until you see me to know what it is._

 _Mada mada dane_  
 ** _-Ryoma_**

* * *

 _Fuji and Momo,_

 _This letter has been long overdue._

 _I know that in my past letters to you I have been vague about what I have been up to, giving you both only the bare minimum. I apologize but I wanted my success to be a surprise to you. Just like how Ryoma wanted to surprise his teammates._

 _I have yet to thank you both for the experiences I have had with you when we met. I know that sounds odd and not all of them were pleasant memories but believe me when I say they were helpful._

 _I do not resent you Fuji. I have not the moment you fought with my brother. I have forgiven you long ago just as I have forgiven my brother. Please tell me you have not been carrying around the guilt for this long._

 _Momo you have my thanks for the support you were trying to give me during our last talk in person. I understand that you didn't really say much or do much and you hate yourself for not being more helpful, but that could not be farther from the truth._

 _I can finally say with enough confidence that I am truly happy. I wish to explain in great detail all it is that I have done for myself and for Ryoma. Unfortunately, that would make this letter far too long, almost as if I was writing a book._

 _For now, I'll just have to hold in the excitement until the day I see you both again, which isn't as far away as you think._

 _Until then take care of yourselves and do not let my brother boss you around too much._

 _With lots of love_  
 ** _Ryoko_**

 _P.S. Japan really hasn't changed that much has it._


End file.
